2009 LTER All Scientists Meeting - JRN

Expansion of C3 shrublands into Jornada Basin LTER grasslands: broad spatial and long-term temporal scales

Curtis Monger — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:28:06 +0000

Poster Number:

289

Presenter/Primary Author:

Curtis Monger

Co-Authors:

Peters DPC

Co-Authors:

Rachal D

Numerous physical, chemical, and biological processes operate in positive feedback loops during the invasion of C3 shrubs into C4 grasslands. These processes occur at multiple spatial and temporal scales, ranging from a few mm2 over a period of weeks to hundreds of km2 over a period of millennia.

The EcoTrends Project: preview of the book and introduction to the web site

Debra Peters — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:46:43 +0000

Poster Number:

274

Presenter/Primary Author:

Debra Peters

Co-Authors:

Christine Laney

Co-Authors:

Ariel Lugo

Co-Authors:

Scott Collins

Co-Authors:

Charley Driscoll

Co-Authors:

Peter Groffman

Co-Authors:

Morgan Grove

Co-Authors:

Alan Knapp

Co-Authors:

Tim Kratz

Co-Authors:

Mark Ohman

Co-Authors:

Bob Waide

Co-Authors:

Jin Yao

Co-Authors:

Mark Servilla

The EcoTrends Project began in 2004 as a joint collaboration among the LTER Program, USDA Agricultral Research Service, and the USDA Forest Service with two goals: (1) to create a book illustrating trends in long -term data and showing the value of long-term data across a network of sites in addressing continental-scale questions, and (2) to make long-term biotic and abiotic data easily accessible through a common web interface with a focus on derived or aggregated data to allow cross-site analyses to be made.

Assessing Organic Carbon Stabilization in Chihuahuan Desert Soils Using Sequential Density Fractionation

Heather Throop — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:38:08 +0000

Poster Number:

238

Presenter/Primary Author:

Heather Throop

Co-Authors:

Kate Lajtha

Co-Authors:

Phil Sollins

Co-Authors:

Curtis Monger

Stabilization of organic matter on mineral surfaces strongly affects rates of soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation and turnover. Controls over SOM are of particular interest in arid and semi-arid systems where the abundance of woody plants has increased globally over the past century. This proliferation of woody plants may lead to significant soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation, although a large degree of uncertainty exists in the direction and magnitude of SOC pool responses to woody encroachment.

Meristem density constrains productivity responses to changes in water availability in the Chihuahuan Desert

Lara Reichmann — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:34:00 +0000

Poster Number:

229

Presenter/Primary Author:

Lara Reichmann

Co-Authors:

Osvaldo E. Sala

Co-Authors:

Laureano Gherardi

Co-Authors:

Debra P. Peters

In arid ecosystems, current year precipitation explains a low proportion of the annual aboveground net primary production (ANPP). There is evidence that precipitation that occurred in previous years is responsible for the observed difference between actual and expected ANPP, a concept called legacy. Here, we study the mechanisms that generate these legacies, thus we will able to better understand the controls of the global carbon cycle, and to forecast changes in ANPP with a changing climate.

Student Poster:

Yes

Plant Responses to an Extreme Climatic Event on Grassland-Shrubland Ecotones

Andrea Campanella — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:30:05 +0000

Poster Number:

226

Presenter/Primary Author:

Andrea Campanella

Co-Authors:

Brandon Bestelmeyer

Co-Authors:

Gary Roemer

Co-Authors:

Debra Peters

Student Poster:

Yes

Simple strategies for increasing the power of soil moisture measurements to explain ecological patterns across the landscape

Michael Duniway — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:19:40 +0000

Poster Number:

207

Presenter/Primary Author:

Michael Duniway

Primary production in arid and semiarid systems is predominantly limited by water availability. Precipitation is a strong predictor of primary production at broad scales in these systems. However, due to local variability in soil-water availability associated with landscape position, soil characteristics, and species composition, precipitation can be a pore predictor of production at finer scales. Thus, measured soil moisture content should provide a better predictor of primary production at fine scales.

Utilizing the Trophic Interactions of Nematodes as Indicators of Change in Soil Biota Associated with the loss of Bouteloua eriopoda Grasslands

Jeremy Klass — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:35:29 +0000

Poster Number:

103

Presenter/Primary Author:

Jeremy Klass

Co-Authors:

Jacqueline M. Trojan

Co-Authors:

Debra P.C. Peters

Co-Authors:

Stephen H. Thomas

Co-Authors:

Stephen F. Hansen

Co-Authors:

David M. Rachal

Student Poster:

Yes

EcoTrends: learning how to support synthetic research through innovative solutions

Christine Laney — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:42:46 +0000

Poster Number:

101

Presenter/Primary Author:

Christine Laney

Co-Authors:

Debra Peters

The EcoTrends project is an LTER network-level synthesis program geared toward making long-term ecological data highly explorable, accessible and comparable for cross-site synthesis research. Five years of working with 50 sites (LTER, USDA ARS, USFS, and other agencies) have offered many lessons that can be utilized as we strive to improve and upgrade EcoTrends services. Here, we describe the project’s goals and products, discuss lessons learned, and lay out plans for a future system that will better serve the ecological research and information management community.

Jornada Basin LTER: Cross-Scale Interactions in Connected Arid Landscapes

Debra Peters — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:09:53 +0000

Poster Number:

100

Presenter/Primary Author:

Debra Peters

Co-Authors:

Brandon T. Bestelmeyer

Co-Authors:

Kris M. Havstad

Co-Authors:

Jeffrey E. Herrick

Co-Authors:

H. Curtis Monger

The Chihuahuan Desert, similar to many arid and semiarid ecosystems, has experienced dramatic changes in vegetation structure and ecosystem processes over the past 150 years. This “desertification” is manifested by the broad-scale expansion of unpalatable woody plants into perennial grasslands with associated loss of grasses and increase in soil degradation that compromise the ecosystem services provided to human populations.

Trends in Long-Term Production and Biodiversity Across a Heterogeneous Arid Landscape

Debra Peters — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:48:45 +0000

Poster Number:

Presenter/Primary Author:

Debra Peters

Co-Authors:

Jin Yao

Co-Authors:

Osvaldo E. Sala

Regime shifts from grasslands to shrublands in arid and semiarid ecosystems are thought to be irreversible, similar to state changes in other systems. We analyze long-term data from the Jornada Basin LTER site to determine if a directional change in climate provides an opportunity to reverse this conversion in the Chihuahuan Desert. We compare historical dynamics based on 140 years of landscape change (1858-1998) with 18 years (1990-2007) of detailed ecosystem responses under a variable climate to predict future responses under either a directional increase or decrease in rainfall.