Meteorological, snow, streamflow, topographic, and vegetation height data from four western juniper-dominated experimental catchments in southwestern Idaho, USA

Abstract

Abstract. Meteorological, snow, streamflow, topographic, and vegetation height data are presented from the South Mountain experimental catchments. This study site was established in 2007 as a collaborative, long-term research laboratory to address the impacts of western juniper encroachment and woodland treatments in the interior Great Basin region of the western USA. The data provide detailed information on the weather and hydrologic response from four highly instrumented catchments in the late stages of woodland encroachment in a sagebrush steppe landscape. Hourly data from six meteorologic stations and four weirs have been carefully processed, quality-checked, and are serially complete. These data are ideal for hydrologic, ecosystem, and biogeochemical modeling. Data presented are publicly available from the USDA National Agricultural Library administered by the Agricultural Research Service (https://data.nal.usda.gov/dataset/data-weather-snow-and-streamflow-data-four-western-juniper-dominated-experimental-catchments, doi:10.15482/USDA.ADC/1254010).

Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Impacts of Pinyon and Juniper Reduction on Hydrologic and Erosion Processes Across Climatic Gradients in the Western US: A Regional Synthesis

“…Seasonal variation in runoff from PJ woodlands is largely controlled by the prevailing precipitation regime [140,166,190]. The highest runoff rates from snow-dominated PJ woodlands in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau occur during the snowmelt period or during rain-on-snow events [57,59,60]. For rangelands and woodlands in these climates, snowmelt runoff is generated mainly from subsurface return flow in or near stream channels [194,195] and the timing and amount of streamflow are strongly governed by the amount and distribution of snow [59,94,[196][197][198].…”

“…Watershed-scale studies on runoff from PJ woodlands are more limited than plot-scale to hillslope-scale studies. Kormos et al [60] summarized hydrologic data collected over a period of six years for four western juniper-dominated (42-61% juniper canopy cover) experimental watersheds in Idaho, USA (northern Great Basin). The watersheds range in size from 21-70 ha and span hillslope gradients of~20%.…”

“…The watersheds range in size from 21-70 ha and span hillslope gradients of~20%. Annual precipitation at the sites (627 mm) occurs primarily during the winter and spring seasons and is therefore dominated (53-76%) by snowfall and mixed-phase events typical of northern Great Basin Region [60]. Streamflow at the sites is intermittent in response to snowmelt and rain-on-snow events, usually ceasing in late spring to mid-summer [60].…”

“…Annual precipitation at the sites (627 mm) occurs primarily during the winter and spring seasons and is therefore dominated (53-76%) by snowfall and mixed-phase events typical of northern Great Basin Region [60]. Streamflow at the sites is intermittent in response to snowmelt and rain-on-snow events, usually ceasing in late spring to mid-summer [60]. Average annual streamflow across the four watersheds for the period of record was 115 mm, or about 18% of the mean annual precipitation for the same period [60].…”

“…Streamflow at the sites is intermittent in response to snowmelt and rain-on-snow events, usually ceasing in late spring to mid-summer [60]. Average annual streamflow across the four watersheds for the period of record was 115 mm, or about 18% of the mean annual precipitation for the same period [60]. Wilcox [190] provides a summary of numerous early (1960s-1980s) watershed-scale (24 ha to >60,000 ha) runoff studies for PJ woodlands in the southern Colorado Plateau and southwestern US with winter-and summer-dominated precipitation regimes.…”