A Perspective on El Niño and La Niña: Global Implications for Stream Ecology

Molles, Manuel C.; Dahm, Clifford N.

doi:10.2307/1467935

Cited by 78 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…Shifts in ocean and intertidal ecosystems off the California coast have been linked to changes in oceanographic circulation and El Niño events (42)(43)(44), which were also associated with increased winter precipitation in southwestern North America (26). Changes in species composition of tropical forests in several locations around the world have been tentatively attributed to increased atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and temperature (44).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganization of an arid ecosystem in response to recent climate change

Brown

Valone²,

Curtin³

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

396

327

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Natural ecosystems contain many individuals and species interacting with each other and with their abiotic environment. Such systems can be expected to exhibit complex dynamics in which small perturbations can be amplified to cause large changes. Here, we document the reorganization of an arid ecosystem that has occurred since the late 1970s. The density of woody shrubs increased 3-fold. Several previously common animal species went locally extinct, while other previously rare species increased. While these changes are symptomatic of desertification, they were not caused by livestock grazing or drought, the principal causes of historical desertification. The changes apparently were caused by a shift in regional climate: since 1977 winter precipitation throughout the region was substantially higher than average for this century. These changes illustrate the kinds of large, unexpected responses of complex natural ecosystems that can occur in response to both natural perturbations and human activities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganization of an arid ecosystem in response to recent climate change

Brown

Valone²,

Curtin³

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

396

327

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“…1926 (August) A flood along the Galisteo drainage destroyed acequias at Colorado Plaza, Ortiz, Los Cerrillos, and Tejon (Cooperrider andHendricks 1937: 15). 1925-26 This was an El Nino year for the New Mexico (Betancourt et al 1993: 46;Molles andDahm 1990: 71). 1926 Annual water loss due to evaporation in the Middle Rio Grande Valley was estimated at 500,000 acre-feet (Rodey and Burkholder 1927: 20).…”

Section: -32mentioning

confidence: 99%

From the Rio to the Sierra: An environmental history of the Middle Rio Grande Basin

Scurlock¹

1998

107

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Various human groups have greatly affected the processes and evolution of Middle Rio Grande Basin ecosystems, especially riparian zones, from A.D. 1540 to the present. Overgrazing, clear-cutting, irrigation farming, fire suppression, intensive hunting, and introduction of exotic plants have combined with droughts and floods to bring about environmental and associated cultural changes in the Basin. As a result of these changes, public laws were passed and agencies created to rectify or mitigate various environmental problems in the region. Although restoration and remedial programs have improved the overall "health" of Basin ecosystems, most old and new environmental problems persist.

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“…The drought in 1986 at CWT and its cumulative effects for 2 yr afterwards was responsible for decreasing the number of pitch pine and oaks in the Coweeta basin (http://sparc.ecology.uga.edu/ webdocs/ongoing/html/rongap.html). Workers at the SEV site (Molles & Dahm 1990, Dahm & Molles 1992 have documented the effect of low streamflows during La Niña episodes and the ecological impact. Wetter than usual winters during El Niños have large effects on the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems at SEV.…”

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confidence: 99%

Temporal variability of climate at the US long-term ecological research (LTER) sites

Greenland¹,

Kittel²

2002

Clim. Res.

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We examine the temporal climate variability of 18 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites in the United States including Puerto Rico and Antarctica. Annual and seasonal means of air temperature and totals of precipitation were collected from sites for the period and, for some sites, for longer periods ranging up to a century. Fourteen of the sites show a positive trend in annual mean temperature during the 1957-1990 period, while 4 show a negative trend. Statistical evidence exists at some groups of sites for a step function in temperature and precipitation occurring in the 14 yr either side of 1976. Comparisons suggest that with respect to changes in time, the climates of sites in the North Central part of the US tend to act in concert as one group while the climates of sites near the East Coast tend to act together as a separate group. The climates of the Antarctic sites also seem to act in a coherent manner. There is less coherence among the climates of other LTER sites. These patterns are shown in the variations of the detrended standardized 5 yr moving averages of temperature and precipitation at the sites. The patterns are associated with variations in the values of teleconnective indices, particularly the North Atlantic Oscillation index for the North Central and East Coast LTER sites and the Pacific North American index for the Alaskan and Pacific Northwest group of LTER sites. The climates of some sites, such as those in the center of the country, show some evidence of 'cyclicity' but the record length is too short to make definitive statements about this. We review the variability of some ecological effects that have been documented at LTER sites as this variability relates to the described climate. KEY WORDS: Climate variability · Climatic trends · LTER · United States · Puerto Rico · AntarcticaResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Clim Res 19: 213-231, 2002 overall goal is to provide a characterization of climate variability at LTER sites in terms of synoptic-scale factors producing variability within and between years. Within this framework our sub-goals are firstly to identify the major changes and types of changes which have taken place at the LTER sites; secondly to place the climate variability at LTER sites in the context of what is already known at the national and global level; thirdly to group LTER sites into categories of somewhat similar behavior as far as climate variability is concerned; and fourthly to point out linkages between the climate variability and the ecosystem response.The structure of this paper is designed to meet these goals. First, we discuss the collection and processing of the data. We present a data set with data for a common set of years -1957-1990. We investigate trends and the possibility of step function changes in the data. Then we look at the temporal variability of temperature and precipitation at groups of LTER sites. The groups are based mainly on geographical regions. We also compare this variability wi...

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A Perspective on El Niño and La Niña: Global Implications for Stream Ecology

Cited by 78 publications

References 40 publications

Reorganization of an arid ecosystem in response to recent climate change

Reorganization of an arid ecosystem in response to recent climate change

From the Rio to the Sierra: An environmental history of the Middle Rio Grande Basin

Temporal variability of climate at the US long-term ecological research (LTER) sites

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