DOCSLIB.ORG

Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems U.S. Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.2 January 2009 SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Final Report, Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.2 U.S. Climate Change Science Program And the Subcommittee on Global Change Research Lead Agency U.S. Geological Survey Contributing Agencies National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Federal Executive Team Director, Climate Change Science Program William J. Brennan Director, Climate Change Science Program Office Peter A. Schultz Lead Agency Principal Representative to CCSP; Senior Advisor for Global Change Programs, U.S. Geological Survey Thomas R. Armstrong Product Lead, U.S. Geological Survey Colleen W. Charles Synthesis and Assessment Product Advisory Group Chair; Associate Director, EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment Michael W. Slimak Synthesis and Assessment Product Coordinator, Climate Change Science Program Office Fabien J.G. Laurier Editorial and Production Team Layout editor, U.S. Geological Survey Anna Glover Copy editor, U.S. Geological Survey Jeanette Ishee This document, part of the Synthesis and Assessment Products described in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Strategic Plan, was prepared in accordance with Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554) and theinformation quality act guidelines issued by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey pursuant to Section 15). The CCSP Interagency Committee relies on the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey certifications regarding compliance with Section 515 and Department guidelines as the basis for determining that this product conforms with Section 515. For purposes of compliance with Section 515, this CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product is an “interpreted product” as that term is used in U.S. Geological Survey guidelines and is classified as “highly influential”. This document does not express any regulatory policies of the United States or any of its agencies, or provide recommendations for regulatory action. ii SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems January 2009, Members of Congress: On behalf of the National Science and Technology Council, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) is pleased to transmit to the President and the Congress this Synthesis and Assessment Product (SAP) Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems. This is part of a series of 21 SAPs produced by the CCSP aimed at providing current assessments of climate change science to inform public debate, policy, and operational decisions. These reports are also intended to help the CCSP develop future program research priorities. The CCSP’s guiding vision is to provide the Nation and the global community with the science- based knowledge needed to manage the risks and capture the opportunities associated with climate and related environmental changes. The SAPs are important steps toward achieving that vision and help to translate the CCSP’s extensive observational and research database into informational tools that directly address key questions being asked of the research community. This SAP addresses and synthesizes the current state of scientific understanding regarding potential abrupt state changes or regime shifts in ecosystems in response to climate change. It was developed in accordance with the Guidelines for Producing CCSP SAPs, the Information Quality Act (Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554)), and the guidelines issued by the Department of Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey pursuant to Section 515. We commend the report’s authors for both the thorough nature of their work and their adherence to an inclusive review process. Sincerely, Carlos M. Gutierrez Samuel W. Bodman John H. Marburger III Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Energy Director, Office of Science Chair, Committee on Vice Chair, Committee on and Technology Policy Climate Change Science Climate Change Science Executive Director, Committee and Technology Integration and Technology Integration on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration iii SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Author Team for this Report Lead Authors: Daniel B. Fagre, USGS; Colleen W. Charles, USGS. Authors: Craig D. Allen, USGS; Charles Birkeland, USGS-University of Hawaii; F. Stuart Chapin, III, University of Alaska; Peter M. Groffman, Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Glenn R. Guntenspergen, USGS; Alan K. Knapp, Colorado State University; A. David McGuire, USGS-University of Alaska; Patrick J. Mulholland, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Debra P.C. Peters, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Daniel D. Roby, USGS-Oregon State University; George Sugihara, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and University of California at San Diego. Contributors: Brandon Bestelmeyer, Jornada Basin LTER; Julio L. Betancourt, USGS; Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jornada Basin LTER Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Federal Advisory Committee An eight-member Federal Advisory Committee oversaw the scientific review and development of this Synthesis and Assessment Product (SAP) at the request of the U.S. Geological Survey. Linda Joyce, Forest Service Steven McNulty, Forest Service Ronald Neilson, Forest Service Dennis Ojima, John H. Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and theEnvironment David Peterson, Forest Service Franklin Schwing, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service John P. Smol, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario Leigh Welling, National Park Service v SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Acknowledgments CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.2 (SAP 4.2) was developed with the benefit of a scientifically rigorous first draft peer review conducted by a committee appointed under the Federal Advisory Committee Act—Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Federal Advisory Committee (FAC). The resultant review was instrumental in shaping the final version of SAP 4.2 and in improving its completeness, sharpening its focus, and communicating its conclusions and recommendations. We would like to acknowledge Susan Haseltine, Associate Director-Biology USGS, Robert Szaro, Chief Scientist-Biology USGS (retired), Bruce Jones, Chief Scientist- Biology, and Jeffrey Kershner, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center- USGS for the support, encouragement, and accommodation provided in order to carry out this complex task. The authors extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to Fabien Laurier, CCSP, for his patience, guidance, and encouragement all through the development of SAP 4.2. We wish to thank the members of the Review FAC: Linda Joyce, USDA Forest Service; Steven McNulty, USDA Forest Service; Ronald Neilson, USDA Forest Service; Dennis Ojima, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; David Peterson, USDA Forest Service; Franklin Schwing, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service; John P. Smol, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario; Leigh Welling, National Park Service. We would like to thank Anthony C. Janetos, Joint Global Change Research Institute, for providing guidance and support in developing this document and vi SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems encouragement in getting this information out. We also extend appreciation to Patricia Jellison, USGS, for her support in completing SAP4.2. The authors also express deep gratitude to Lindsey Bengtson and Kimberly Dueling, Jeannete Ishee, and Anna Glover, USGS, for their invaluable time and dedication to the production of SAP 4.2. We are also grateful to all the reviewers who provided valuable comments during the public comment period. The author team carefully considered all comments and the subsequent revisions resulted in improving the quality and clarity of this report. vii SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems Synopsis As defined in this Synthesis and Assessment Report, ‘an ecological threshold is the point at which there is an abrupt change in an ecosystem quality, property, or phenomenon, or where small changes in one or more external conditions produce large and persistent responses in an ecosystem’. Ecological thresholds occur when external factors, positive feedbacks, or nonlinear instabilities in a system cause changes to propagate in a domino-like fashion that is potentially irreversible. This report reviews threshold changes in North American ecosystems that are potentially induced by climatic change and addresses the significant challenges these threshold crossings impose on resource and land managers. Sudden changes to ecosystems and the goods and services they provide are not well understood, but they are extremely important if natural resource managers are to succeed in developing adaptation strategies in a changing world. The report provides an overview of what is known about ecological thresholds and where they are likely to occur. It also identifies those areas where research is most needed to improve knowledge and understand the uncertainties regarding them. The report suggests a suite of potential actions that land and resource managers could use to improve the
Recommended publications
  • Assessing the Importance of Potholes in the Canadian Prairie Region Under Future Climate Change Scenarios

    Assessing the Importance of Potholes in the Canadian Prairie Region Under Future Climate Change Scenarios

    water Article Assessing the Importance of Potholes in the Canadian Prairie Region under Future Climate Change Scenarios Ameer Muhammad 1,*, Grey R. Evenson 2, Tricia A. Stadnyk 1 , Alaba Boluwade 3, Sanjeev Kumar Jha 4 and Paulin Coulibaly 5 1 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, Canada; [email protected] 2 Department of Water Environment, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Soils, Water & Agricultural Engineering College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 34, Al-Khod 123, Oman; [email protected] 4 Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, Bhauri Bypass Road, Bhauri, Bhopal 462066, Madhya Pradesh, India; [email protected] 5 Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L7, Canada; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 20 October 2018; Accepted: 12 November 2018; Published: 14 November 2018 Abstract: The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Canada contains millions of small isolated wetlands and is unique to North America. The goods and services of these isolated wetlands are highly sensitive to variations in precipitation and temperature. We evaluated the flood proofing of isolated wetlands (pothole wetlands) under various climate change scenarios in the Upper Assiniboine River Basin (UARB) at Kamsack, a headwater catchment of the Lake of the Prairies in the Canadian portion of the PPR. A modified version of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was utilized to simulate projected streamflow under the potential impacts of climate change, along with changes to the distribution of pothole wetlands.
  • Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program Iowa

    Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program Iowa

    Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program Iowa Background pothole region. This new program may actually provide a more positive return on investment Eligibility Water-saturated portions of cropland fields for producers. can cause environmental issues and financial To be eligible for the losses for Iowa farmers in the Prairie Pothole Prairie Pothole Water Region. To help overcome these issues, Quality and Wildlife USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Program, wetlands Service (NRCS) is offering the Prairie must be: Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program to farmers in this area. The new program (Levels 1, 2 and 3) provides farmers an opportunity to implement conservation practices on wet areas. • Cropped Wetlands (Levels 2 and 3) Pothole Region • Two acres in size The Prairie Pothole Region extends from or less as identified Canada south and east, and through parts on the National of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wetlands Inventory Minnesota and Iowa. In Iowa, many potholes New Opportunity are found in the Des Moines Lobe, an area The Prairie Pothole Water Quality and • Intact Hydrology that spans the north-central part of the state, Wildlife Program is a new funding opportunity ending around the Polk-Story county line and available through the Environmental Quality Monitoring the vast majority of potholes are farmed. Incentives Program (EQIP). When enrolled, producers are eligible for payment on cropped Examples of wetlands. monitoring include Prairie Pothole Farming but are not limited Water Quality to: photo points Standing water from farmed potholes are often How It Works with comparisons to drained through tiling, field or road ditching, In Iowa, farmers may choose from three levels.
  • Ecological Thresholds: the Key to Successful Environmental Management Or an Important Concept with No Practical Application?

    Ecological Thresholds: the Key to Successful Environmental Management Or an Important Concept with No Practical Application?

    Ecosystems (2006) 9: 1–13 DOI: 10.1007/s10021-003-0142-z MINI REVIEW Ecological Thresholds: The Key to Successful Environmental Management or an Important Concept with No Practical Application? Peter M. Groffman,1* Jill S. Baron,2 Tamara Blett,3 Arthur J. Gold,4 Iris Goodman,5 Lance H. Gunderson,6 Barbara M. Levinson,5 Margaret A. Palmer,7 Hans W. Paerl,8 Garry D. Peterson,9 N. LeRoy Poff,10 David W. Rejeski,11 James F. Reynolds,12 Monica G. Turner,13 Kathleen C. Weathers,1 and John Wiens14 1Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, New York 12545, USA; 2Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, US Geological Survey, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1499, USA; 3Air Resources Division, USDI-National Park Service, Academy Place, Room 450, P.O. Box 25287 Denver, Colorado 80225-0287, USA; 4Department of Natural Resources Science, 105 Coastal Institute in Kingston, University of Rhode Island, One Greenhouse Road, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, USA 5US Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA; 6Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA; 7University of Maryland, Plant Sciences Building 4112, College Park, Maryland 20742-4415, USA; 8Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, North Carolina 28557, USA; 9Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, 680 N. Park St., Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA; 10Department of
  • Environmental Limits Page 1

    Environmental Limits Page 1

    POST Report 370 January 2011 Living with Environmental Limits Page 1 Summary Human well-being is dependent upon assessment approaches. However, where renewable natural resources. Agricultural there is a risk of thresholds being systems, for example, depend upon plant breached and potentially irreversible productivity, soil, the water cycle, the impacts occurring, additional policy nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus nutrient safeguards to maintain natural resource cycles and a stable climate. Renewable systems within environmental limits are natural resources can be subject to required. biological and physical thresholds beyond which irreversible changes in benefit Managing ecosystems to maximise one provision may occur. These are difficult to particular benefit, such as food provision, define and many are likely to be identified can result in declines in other benefits. only once crossed. An environmental limit The evidence base is not yet sufficient to is usually interpreted as the point or range determine the most effective ways to of conditions beyond which there is a maintain benefit provision within significant risk of thresholds being environmental limits, but a range of policy exceeded and unacceptable changes responses are seeking to optimise multiple occurring.1 benefit provision, including: Biodiversity loss, climate change and a agri-environment schemes range of other pressures are affecting generic measures to enhance renewable natural resources. If biodiversity, which may increase governments do not effectively monitor the the capacity of natural resource use and degradation of natural resource systems to adapt to environmental systems in national account frameworks, change the probability of costs arising from the use of ecological processes to exploiting natural resources beyond increase overall natural system environmental limits is not taken into resilience to address problems account.
  • Physico-Chemical Thresholds in the Distribution of Fish Species Among

    Physico-Chemical Thresholds in the Distribution of Fish Species Among

    Knowl. Manag. Aquat. Ecosyst. 2017, 418, 41 Knowledge & © V. Roubeix et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2017 Management of Aquatic DOI: 10.1051/kmae/2017032 Ecosystems www.kmae-journal.org Journal fully supported by Onema RESEARCH PAPER Physico-chemical thresholds in the distribution of fish species among French lakes Vincent Roubeix1,*, Martin Daufresne1, Christine Argillier1, Julien Dublon1, Anthony Maire1,a, Delphine Nicolas1,b, Jean-Claude Raymond2,3 and Pierre-Alain Danis2 1 Irstea, UR RECOVER, Pôle AFB-Irstea hydroécologie plans d’eau, Centre d’Aix-en-Provence, 3275 route Cézanne, 13182 Aix-en-Provence, France 2 Agence française pour la biodiversité, Pôle AFB-Irstea hydroécologie plans d’eau, 13182 Aix-en-Provence, France 3 Agence française pour la biodiversité, Délégation Régionale Rhône-Alpes, Unité Spécialisée Milieux Lacustres, 74200 Thonon-les-Bains, France Abstract – The management of lakes requires the definition of physico-chemical thresholds to be used for ecosystem preservation or restoration. According to the European Water Framework Directive, the limits between physico-chemicalquality classes must be set consistently with biological quality elements. Onewayto do this consists in analyzing the response of aquatic communities to environmental gradients across monitoring sites and in identifying ecological community thresholds, i.e. zones in the gradients where the species turnover is the highest. In this study, fish data from 196 lakes in France were considered to derive ecological thresholds using the multivariate method of gradient forest. The analysis was performed on 25 species and 36 environmental parameters. The results revealed the highest importance of maximal water temperature in the distributionoffishspecies.Otherimportantparametersincludedgeographicalfactors,dissolvedorganiccarbon concentrationandwater transparency,whilenutrients appearedto have lowinfluence.
  • Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development

    Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development

    Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development A Scoping Study Funded by Full Technical Report Project Team: Prof. Roy Haines-Young PD Dr. Marion Potschin Duncan Cheshire Centre for Environmental Management School of Geography, University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD [email protected] March 2006 Project Code NR0102 Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development: Final Report Citation: HAINES-YOUNG, R.; POTSCHIN, M. and D. CHESHIRE (2006): Defining and identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development. A Scoping Study. Final Full Technical Report to Defra, 103 pp + appendix 77 pp, Project Code NR0102. Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development: Final Technical Report Contents Page Acknowledgements ii Executive Summary iv Part I Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Context and Aim 1 Part II: Conceptual Frameworks 4 Chapter 2: Limits and Thresholds: Definitions 4 Chapter 3: Identifying Limits and Thresholds 12 Chapter 4: Values and the Problem of Limits and Thresholds 29 Part III: Exploring the Evidence Base 33 Chapter 5: Biodiversity 33 Chapter 6: Land Use and Landscape 42 Chapter 7: Recreation 52 Chapter 8: Marine Environment 57 Chapter 9: Water - supply and demand 62 Chapter 10: Climate Change 68 Chapter 11: Pollution Loads 75 Part IV: Conclusions and Recommendations 82 Chapter 12: Respecting Environmental Limits 82 References 94 Appendix A: Briefing and Position Papers by external experts 104 i Defining and Identifying Environmental Limits for Sustainable Development: Final Technical Report Acknowledgements Part III of this report “Exploring the Evidence Base” draws heavily upon a set of position papers from invited scientists, which are presented in their original form in the appendix of this full technical report.
  • Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands

    Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands

    sustainability Article Synergistic Interaction of Climate and Land-Use Drivers Alter the Function of North American, Prairie-Pothole Wetlands Owen P. McKenna 1,* , Samuel R. Kucia 1, David M. Mushet 1, Michael J. Anteau 1 and Mark T. Wiltermuth 2 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND 58401, USA; [email protected] (S.R.K.); [email protected] (D.M.M.); [email protected] (M.J.A.) 2 U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI 54603, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: 1-701-253-5527 Received: 30 September 2019; Accepted: 19 November 2019; Published: 21 November 2019 Abstract: Prairie-pothole wetlands provide the critical habitat necessary for supporting North American migratory waterfowl populations. However, climate and land-use change threaten the sustainability of these wetland ecosystems. Very few experiments and analyses have been designed to investigate the relative impacts of climate and land-use change drivers, as well as the antagonistic or synergistic interactions among these drivers on ecosystem processes. Prairie-pothole wetland water budgets are highly dependent on atmospheric inputs and especially surface runoff, which makes them especially susceptible to changes in climate and land use. Here, we present the history of prairie-pothole climate and land-use change research and address the following research questions: 1) What are the relative effects of climate and land-use change on the sustainability of prairie-pothole wetlands? and 2) Do the effects of climate and land-use change interact differently under different climatic conditions? To address these research questions, we modeled 25 wetland basins (1949–2018) and measured the response of the lowest wetland in the watershed to wetland drainage and climate variability.
  • Amphibian Response to a Large-Scale Habitat Restoration in the Prairie Pothole Region

    Amphibian Response to a Large-Scale Habitat Restoration in the Prairie Pothole Region

    JNAH ISSN 1094-2246 The Journal of North American Herpetology Volume 2016, Number 1 5 July 2016 jnah.cnah.org AMPHIBIAN RESPONSE TO A LARGE-SCALE HABITAT RESTORATION IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION ROCHELLE M. STILES1, CHRIS H. LA RUE2, MICHAEL J. HAWKINS2, WILLIAM A. MITCHELL1, AND MICHAEL J. LANNOO3 1Department of Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA 2Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Spirit Lake, Iowa, USA 3Terre Haute Center for Medical Education, Indiana University School of Medicine, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA; Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Over the next half-century, scientists anticipate that nearly one third of the currently recognized 7,450 amphibian species will become extinct. Many organizations have responded to the challenge of conserving amphibian biodiversity, some indirectly. Under the auspices of the Iowa Great Lakes Management Plan, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Natural Resources, and their partners have been implementing habitat restoration efforts designed to protect water quality, provide recreational opportunities, and benefit wildlife at the regional level. With this program, over 130 wetlands have been created in the past 30 years on recently purchased public lands—one of the largest wetland restoration projects conducted in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains. While amphibians were not the main target of these restorations, we show that in response, 121 new breeding populations of native Northern Leop- ard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens; n = 80) and Eastern Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum; n = 41) have been established; in addition, we found 19 populations of non-native American Bullfrogs (L.
  • South Dakota Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit

    South Dakota Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit

    U.S. Geological Survey South Dakota Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit 2017 ANNUAL REPORT OCTOBER 2016 – SEPTEMBER 2017 IN COOPERATION WITH: South Dakota State University South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks Wildlife Management Institute U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit FOREWORD The U.S. Geological Survey, South Dakota Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit would like to extend our thanks to alumni, cooperators, students and staff for another productive year at South Dakota State University. Unit scientists are fortunate to work with a talented group of graduate students, research associates and agency biologists to address wildlife research needs in our state and region. Since 1963, over 255 students have received graduate degrees working with Unit scientists at the SD Coop Unit. Research at the South Dakota Coop Unit, guided by our Coordinating Committee, is conducted primarily by graduate students studying a range of topics that include endangered species biology, wetland ecology, fisheries management, upland game, big game management, and non-game species. The Unit is housed in the Department of Natural Resource Management at South Dakota State University, where we share a large supply of field equipment and laboratory facilities. The USGS EROS Data Center and the GIS Center of Excellence (GISCE) at SDSU provide unique resources and collaborative opportunities for the South Dakota Coop Unit. In 2010, Professor Emeritus and Assistant Unit Leader Dr. Kenneth F. Higgins (retired) established the Kenneth F. Higgins Waterfowl Legacy Research Endowment, directed at supporting graduate student research that benefits wetland-dependent avian species. Contributions to the endowment can be made by contacting the SDSU Alumni Association (888.735.2257; [email protected]).
  • Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities in the US Prairie Pothole Region Coupling AMSR Passive Microwave Data with the USDA Cropland Data Layer

    Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities in the US Prairie Pothole Region Coupling AMSR Passive Microwave Data with the USDA Cropland Data Layer

    remote sensing Article Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities in the US Prairie Pothole Region Coupling AMSR Passive Microwave Data with the USDA Cropland Data Layer Woubet G. Alemu 1,* , Geoffrey M. Henebry 2,3 and Assefa M. Melesse 1 1 Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA; melessea@fiu.edu 2 Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 44824, USA; [email protected] 3 Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 44823, USA * Correspondence: walemu@fiu.edu; Tel.: +1-786-709-8160 Received: 13 September 2019; Accepted: 28 October 2019; Published: 30 October 2019 Abstract: Land surface phenologies and seasonalities in the US Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) were characterized using land surface variables derived from the coarse spatial resolution (25 km) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) blended data for 2003 to 2016 linked with the optically based USDA NASS Crop Data Layer (CDL) at a much finer spatial resolution. Two transects of AMSR pixels—one in east-central North Dakota and the other in eastern South Dakota—were selected for analysis. The AMSR data were grouped earlier (2003–2005, 2007) and later (2013–2016) to emphasize temporal change and to avoid data discontinuity in 2011–2012 and a major drought in 2006. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall trend test on the CDL data revealed that area in grasslands and wetlands strongly decreased in both transects, while corn and soybean coverage strongly increased. In crop-dominated sites, the AMSR vegetation optical depth (VOD) time series caught the early spring growth, ploughing, and crop growth and senescence.
  • Ocean of Grass: a Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains Addendum: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies 2011

    Ocean of Grass: a Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains Addendum: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies 2011

    Ocean of Grass: A Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains Addendum: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies 2011 Suggested Citation: Schrag, A.M. (2011). Addendum: climate change impacts and adaptation strategies. In: Ocean of grass: a conservation assessment for the Northern Great Plains. Eds., Forrest, S.C., Strand, H., Haskins, W.H., Freese, C., Proctor, J., Dinerstein, E. Northern Plains Conservation Network and Northern Great Plains Ecoregion, World Wildlife Fund-US, Bozeman, MT. 1 Section I: Statement of the Problem and General Adaptation Guidance Statement of the Problem Climate change is impacting all corners of the planet to varying degrees and is changing the face of conservation in the process. While much of the focus on impacts has been and continues to be on systems that represent climatic extremes, such as mountainous and polar regions, the high biodiversity and ecosystem services that are present in temperate grasslands suggest that focusing attention on climate impacts and adaptation strategies in these areas is also highly valuable. Based on recent scientific research, the speed of climate change in the world’s temperate grasslands is likely to outpace the amount of protected area currently available, leaving grasslands more vulnerable to change than other ecosystems (Loarie et al., 2009). This report provides an overview of climate change impacts to the Northern Great Plains Ecoregion, as defined in Forrest et al. (2004; Fig. 1), and suggests general adaptation techniques that will be beneficial in this region. The analysis and literature review contained within this report is meant to provide regional-scale data on the exposure of species and systems to historical and predicted future climate change, as well as provide information from the scientific literature that can serve as a qualitative vulnerability analysis for the region as a whole.
  • Historical Alterations of Surface Hydrology in Iowa's Small Agricultural Watersheds Katherine Louise Andersen Iowa State University

    Historical Alterations of Surface Hydrology in Iowa's Small Agricultural Watersheds Katherine Louise Andersen Iowa State University

    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2000 Historical alterations of surface hydrology in Iowa's small agricultural watersheds Katherine Louise Andersen Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Agriculture Commons, Economic History Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Recommended Citation Andersen, Katherine Louise, "Historical alterations of surface hydrology in Iowa's small agricultural watersheds" (2000). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 16854. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/16854 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Historical alterations of surface hydrology in Iowa's small agricultural watersheds by Katherine Louise Andersen A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Biological and Physical Sciences) Major Professor: Bruce W. Menzel Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2000 11 Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the Master's thesis of Katherine Louise Andersen has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction 1 Thesis Organization 5 CHAPTER 2. HISTORICAL ALTERATIONS OF SURF ACE HYDROLOGY IN IOWA'S SMALL AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS 6 Abstract 6 Introduction 7 Description of Study Watersheds 10 Methods and Materials 13 Results 15 Discussion 22 Literature Cited 32 CHAPTER 3.