Publications
Publications, scientific literature, and information products from the Land Change Science Program.
Filter Total Items: 562
A new indicator framework for quantifying the intensity of the terrestrialwater cycle
A quantitative framework for characterizing the intensity of the water cycle over land is presented, and illustrated using a spatially distributed water-balance model of the conterminous United States (CONUS). We approach water cycle intensity (WCI) from a landscape perspective; WCI is defined as the sum of precipitation (P) and actual evapotranspiration (AET) over a spatially explicit landscape u
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Peter Weiskel, David M. Wolock, Gregory J. McCabe
T.D.A. Cockerell (1866–1948) of the University of Colorado: His contributions to the natural history of the California islands and the establishment of Channel Islands National Monument
Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell was a naturalist at the University of Colorado from 1904 to 1947 and studied botany, zoology, and paleontology in North and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe. In the latter part of his career, he studied the California islands and published many papers on their natural history, 16 of them in four years (1937–1940). He made important contributions to t
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs
Microspatial ecotone dynamics at a shifting range limit: plant–soil variation across salt marsh–mangrove interfaces
Ecotone dynamics and shifting range limits can be used to advance our understanding of the ecological implications of future range expansions in response to climate change. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, the salt marsh–mangrove ecotone is an area where range limits and ecotone dynamics can be studied in tandem as recent decreases in winter temperature extremes have allowed for mangrove expansion
Authors
Erik S. Yando, Michael J. Osland, Mark H. Hester
Research frontiers for improving our understanding of drought‐induced tree and forest mortality
Accumulating evidence highlights increased mortality risks for trees during severe drought, particularly under warmer temperatures and increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Resulting forest die‐off events have severe consequences for ecosystem services, biophysical and biogeochemical land–atmosphere processes. Despite advances in monitoring, modelling and experimental studies of the causes and
Authors
Henrik Hartmann, Catarina Moura, William R. L. Anderegg, Nadine K. Ruehr, Yann Salmon, Craig D. Allen, Stefan K. Arndt, David D. Breshears, Hendrik Davi, David Galbraith, Katinka X. Ruthrof, Jan Wunder, Henry D. Adams, Jasper Bloemen, Maxime Cailleret, Richard Cobb, Arthur Gessler, Thorsten E. E. Grams, Steven Jansen, Markus Kautz, Francisco Lloret, Michael O’Brien
Spatial and temporal variation in sources of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in the Rocky Mountains using nitrogen isotopes
Variation in source areas and source types of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to high-elevation ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains were evaluated using spatially and temporally distributed N isotope data from atmospheric deposition networks for 1995-2016. This unique dataset links N in wet deposition and snowpack to mobile and stationary emissions sources, and enhances understanding of the impa
Authors
Leora Nanus, Donald H. Campbell, Christopher M.B. Lehmann, M. Alisa Mast
Context-dependent interactions and the regulation of species richness in freshwater fish
Species richness is regulated by a complex network of scale-dependent processes. This complexity can obscure the influence of limiting species interactions, making it difficult to determine if abiotic or biotic drivers are more predominant regulators of richness. Using integrative modeling of freshwater fish richness from 721 lakes along an 11olatitudinal gradient, we find negative interactions to
Authors
Andrew S. MacDougall, Eric Harvey, Jenny L. McCune, Karin A. Nilsson, Joseph Bennett, Jennifer Firn, Timothy Bartley, James B. Grace, Jocelyn Kelly, Tyler D. Tunney, Bailey C. McMeans, Shin-Ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Taku Kadoya, Ellen Esch, Kevin Cazelles, Nigel Lester, Kevin S. McCann
Modeling wildfire-induced permafrost deformation in an Alaskan boreal forest using InSAR observations
The discontinuous permafrost zone is one of the world’s most sensitive areas to climate change. Alaskan boreal forest is underlain by discontinuous permafrost, and wildfires are one of the most influential agents negatively impacting the condition of permafrost in the arctic region. Using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) of Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array ty
Authors
Yusef Eshqi Molan, Jin-Woo Kim, Zhong Lu, Bruce K. Wylie, Zhiliang Zhu
A floodplain continuum for Atlantic coast rivers of the Southeastern US: Predictable changes in floodplain biota along a river's length
Floodplains are among the world’s economically-most-valuable, environmentally-most-threatened, and yet conceptually-least-understood ecosystems. Drawing on concepts from existing riverine and wetland models, and empirical data from floodplains of Atlantic Coast rivers in the Southeastern US (and elsewhere when possible), we introduce a conceptual model to explain a continuum of longitudinal variat
Authors
Darold P. Batzer, Gregory Noe, Linda Lee, Mark Galatowitsch
On the exchange of sensible and latent heat between the atmosphere and melting snow
The snow energy balance is difficult to measure during the snowmelt period, yet critical for predictions of water yield in regions characterized by snow cover. Robust simplifications of the snowmelt energy balance can aid our understanding of water resources in a changing climate. Research to date has demonstrated that the net turbulent flux (FT) between a melting snowpack and the atmosphere is ne
Authors
Paul C. Stoy, Erich H. Peitzsch, David J. A. Wood, Daniel Rottinghaus, Georg Wohlfahrt, Michael Goulden, Helen Ward
Beyond clay: Towards an improved set of variables for predicting soil organic matter content
Improved quantification of the factors controlling soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization at continental to global scales is needed to inform projections of the largest actively cycling terrestrial carbon pool on Earth, and its response to environmental change. Biogeochemical models rely almost exclusively on clay content to modify rates of SOM turnover and fluxes of climate-active CO2 to the atm
Authors
Craig Rasmussen, Katherine Heckman, William R. Wieder, Marco Keiluweit, Corey R. Lawrence, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Joseph C. Blankinship, Susan E. Crow, Jennifer Druhan, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Alain F. Plante, Christina Schadel, Joshua P. Schmiel, Carlos A. Sierra, Aaron Thompson, Rota Wagai
Vegetation cover, tidal amplitude and land area predict short-term marsh vulnerability in Coastal Louisiana
The loss of coastal marshes is a topic of great concern, because these habitats provide tangible ecosystem services and are at risk from sea-level rise and human activities. In recent years, significant effort has gone into understanding and modeling the relationships between the biological and physical factors that contribute to marsh stability. Simulation-based process models suggest that marsh
Authors
Donald Schoolmaster, Camille L. Stagg, Leigh Anne Sharp, Tommy S. McGinnis, Bernard Wood, Sarai Piazza
Hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin
Despite the importance of the Missouri River for navigation, recreation, habitat, hydroelectric power, and agriculture, relatively little is known about the basic hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin (MRB). This is of particular concern given the droughts and floods that have occurred over the past several decades and the potential future exacerbation of these extremes by climate change. H
Authors
Erika K. Wise, Connie A. Woodhouse, Gregory J. McCabe, Gregory T. Pederson, Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques