Understanding the effects of global change on ecosystems of the Sonoran Desert

Conference · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America; (United States)

OSTI ID:6201712

Halvorson, W L ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Arizon, Tucson (United States)

The Global Change program for the Sonoran Desert just began in March 1992. Currently, two projects are being directly funded by the National Park Service and we are coordinating with research of other agencies. One thrust of the program is to understand the effect of climate on species growth, abundances and distribution. This will be done using a number of methods. One is growth ring analysis of conifers on mountain ranges in and bordering the Sonoran Desert. Another study will relate the USGS Desert Laboratory data base on plant species distributions to a mesoscale climate model. Other programs that we are coordinating with include a USGS Desert Laboratory project to study long term changes in plant communities of the southwest using a comparison of photos from the early 1930s, early 1960s and early 1990s. Other agencies have active global climate research at The University of Arizona and we are working to coordinate the NPS program with these at the investigator level through participation in a university-wide Global Change Committee.

• OSTI ID: 6201712
• Report Number(s): CONF-930798--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America; (United States) Journal Volume: 74:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560400* -- Other Environmental Pollutant Effects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ARID LANDS
ARIZONA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CONIFERS
DESERTS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GROWTH
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NORTH AMERICA
PINOPHYTA
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TREE RINGS
USA