Dryland Ecology and Management Support
Dryland Ecology and Management Support
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation
Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
Providing seed restoration guidelines and native plant materials development
Research supporting restoration across the Colorado Plateau and beyond
Research supporting restoration across the Colorado Plateau and beyond
Informing Solar Energy Land Management
Contributing Remote Sensing Expertise
SBSC remote sensing enables partners to make crucial wildlife management decisions that save money and time.
SBSC remote sensing enables partners to make crucial wildlife management decisions that save money and time.
SBSC conducts research in drylands to deliver information that aids land and wildlife management to promote productive ecosystems. Our work provides tools that are used to mitigate the impacts of drought, wildfire, and invasive species, as well as science that supports Department of the Interior economic and cultural activities including recreation and ranching.
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Biofuels in the Southwest
Concerns about energy security and rising greenhouse gas emissions have stimulated an unprecedented increase in the push for alternative energy use, including the use of plant biomass as a source of renewable energy (bioenergy). Meeting alternative energy goals, while also meeting food demands and mitigating potential detrimental effects of industrialized agriculture, has emerged as a critical...
Restoration and Ecosystem Recovery Dynamics in Arid and Semiarid Landscapes
Dryland regions have been degraded by invasive species, wildfire, overgrazing, agricultural conversion, energy development, recreational activity, and urban growth. These disturbances and others are accelerated by one of the fastest growing human populations in the country and a pressing background of decreasing water availability due to drought and elevated temperatures that are projected to...
Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program Field Trial Study
In the southwest US, monsoon precipitation increases sharply along a northwest to southeast gradient. Pleuraphis jamesii or galleta grass, is an important C4 grass species that spans across this large range in precipitation pattern. In this study we are assessing the ability of galleta grass to adapt to changes in the seasonality of rainfall (termed “plasticity”). In the fall of 2014, we...
Dryland Forest Sustainability
Forests in the semiarid southwestern U.S. are expected to be highly vulnerable to increasing aridity anticipated with climate change. In particular, low elevation forests and the processes of tree regeneration and mortality are likely to be highly susceptible to climate change. This work seeks to characterize how, where and when forest ecosystems will change and identify management strategies to...
Soil water and drought impacts in dryland regions of the Southwest
Drylands cover 40% of the global terrestrial surface and provide important ecosystem services. However, climate forecasts in most dryland regions, especially the southwest U.S., call for increasing aridity. Specifically, changing climate will alter soil water availability, which exerts dominant control over ecosystem structure and function in water-limited, dryland ecosystems. This research seeks...
New Approaches for Restoring Colorado Plateau Grasslands
Historic over-grazing of arid grasslands in the Intermountain West has led to widespread soil erosion, loss of plant diversity, and invasion by exotic species. Degraded grassland conditions can be very persistent, even after livestock use has ceased. For example, in national parks on the Colorado Plateau, livestock have been excluded for decades, but soil and native plants have not recovered on...
Status of Northern Leopard Frogs in the Southwest
Although it is not listed on the Federal Endangered Species list, there is considerable concern over northern leopard frog declines in western North America. It is listed as a “special concern” species by some state wildlife agencies (e.g., Arizona Game and Fish Department 1996) and declines have been reported in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and other areas across the west. Leopard frogs have...
Endangered Cacti in Arizona
Arizona is the home to at least 10 cacti that are listed as endangered, threatened, or under conservation agreement. Land use and management activities that occur on federal, and to some extent state, lands on which the cacti occur require consultation among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the agency managing the land on which the cacti is growing, and the party proposing an activity...
Aeolian Dust in Dryland Landscapes of the Western United States
Dust emission caused by wind erosion has received considerable attention because of its far-reaching effects on ecosystems, including the loss of nutrients and water-holding capacity from source areas, changes to climate and global energy balance in areas where dust is entrained in the atmosphere, fertilization of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, in addition to decreases in snow albedo, causing...
Measuring Water Requirements Of Riparian Regions in the Southwestern U.S. Compared with Drylands in Australia
Floodplain red gum forests are sites of high biodiversity in arid regions of south Australia. They depend on periodic floods from rivers, but dams and diversions have reduced flood frequencies, leading to deterioration of the trees. We determined the water requirements of red gum trees so environmental flows can be used to restore and maintain the forests. We used measurements of transpiration of...
Using Imagery to Monitor Riparian and Upland Vegetation Along the San Pedro River, Arizona
The Upper San Pedro River is one of the few remaining undammed rivers that maintain a vibrant riparian ecosystem in the southwest. However, its riparian forest is threatened by diminishing groundwater and surface water inputs, due to either changes in watershed characteristics such as changes in riparian and upland vegetation, or human activities such as regional groundwater pumping. We used...
Modeling Colonization of a Population of Chiricahua Leopard Frogs
Managing a species with intensive tools like reintroduction may focus on single sites or entire landscapes. For mobile species like the federally-threatened Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis [CLF]), both suitable colonization sites and suitable dispersal corridors between sites are needed. Following the eradication of the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) from...