Potential impacts of overlapping land‐use and climate in a sensitive dryland: a case study of the Colorado Plateau, USA

Copeland, Stella M.; Bradford, John B.; Duniway, Michael C.; Schuster, Rudy M.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1823

Cited by 49 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Over a similar time period on the Colorado Plateau, the cumulative number of oil or gas wells nearly exponentially increased (Copeland et al. ). This rapid rise in oil and gas activity was spurred in large part by new technologies (hydraulic fracturing [“fracking”] and directional drilling) which have also resulted in the development of larger pads.…”

Section: Energy Exploration and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Notably, while the number of domestic livestock on western public lands is relatively stable or decreasing (Copeland et al. ), the size of unpaved road networks and amount of OHV traffic is increasing dramatically due to both energy development and recreational use (Watts et al. , Leu et al.…”

Section: Off‐highway Vehicle and Other Vehicle Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, increasing land‐use pressures and aridification combined (Copeland et al. ) may have unforeseen, synergistic consequences—even from land uses not increasing in intensity or extent (e.g., grazing by ungulates; Beschta et al. ).…”

Section: Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind erosion and dust from US drylands: a review of causes, consequences, and solutions in a changing world

et al. 2019

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Erosion by wind is one of the principal processes associated with land degradation in drylands and is a significant concern to land managers and policymakers globally. In the drylands of North America, millions of tons of soil are lost to wind erosion annually. Of the 60 million ha in the United States identified as most vulnerable to wind erosion (arid and dominated by fine sandy soils), 64% are managed by federal agencies (37 million ha). Here we review the drivers and consequences of wind erosion and dust emissions on drylands in the United States, with an emphasis on actionable responses available to policymakers and practitioners. We find that while dryland soils are often relatively stable when intact, disturbances including fire, domestic livestock grazing, and off‐highway vehicles can increase horizontal eolian flux by an order of magnitude, in some cases as much as 40‐fold. A growing body of literature documents the large‐scale impacts of deposited dust changing the albedo of mountain snow cover and in some cases reducing regional water supplies by ~5%. Predicted future increases in aridity and extreme weather events, including drought, will likely increase wind erosion and consequent dust generation. Under a drier and more variable future climate, new and existing soil‐ and vegetation‐disturbing practices may interact in synergistic ways, with dire consequences for environments and society that are unforeseen to many but fairly predictable given current scientific understanding. Conventional restoration and reclamation approaches, which often entail surface disturbance and rely on adequate moisture to prevent erosion, also carry considerable erosion risk especially under drought conditions. Innovative approaches to dryland restoration that minimize surface disturbance may accomplish restoration or reclamation goals while limiting wind erosion risk. Finally, multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional approaches and perspectives are necessary to understand the complex processes driving dust emissions and provide timely, context‐specific information for mitigating the drivers and impacts of wind erosion and dust.

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Section: Energy Exploration and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Off‐highway Vehicle and Other Vehicle Usementioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind erosion and dust from US drylands: a review of causes, consequences, and solutions in a changing world

et al. 2019

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“…The Colorado Plateau region is comprised of portions of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, United States. Disturbances like overgrazing, invasive species, recreation and fire have increased in frequency and intensity, leading to ecosystem degradation and the need for ecological restoration (Copeland, Bradford, Duniway, & Schuster, 2017;Winkler et al, 2018). We selected three insectpollinated, wind-dispersed forb species in the Asteraceae family, each widely distributed and common in large populations at high quality and disturbed sites throughout the region, making them priority species for restoration: Heterotheca villosa (Pursh) Shinners, Machaeranthera canescens (Pursh) A.…”

Section: Study Region and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific functional trait structure of restoration‐relevant species: Implications for restoration seed sourcing

Zeldin

Lichtenberger

Foxx

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Recent research has highlighted the existence of significant intraspecific trait variation within and among populations of plant species. This inherent variation within species means there is a wealth of trait diversity from which to source germplasm for use in ecological restoration. However, it remains unclear how to source materials from this pool of trait diversity in order to achieve desired outcomes and support ecosystem function in a restoration context. 2.We provide a framework to study the structure of trait variation across populations and genotypes in an effort to bridge functional trait research with the sourcing of native plant materials for restoration. We investigated the structure of intraspecific functional trait variation in three forb species used in restoration on the Colorado Plateau to (a) understand the structure of functional trait variation within and among populations, and (b) determine if individual and multivariate functional traits differ between populations while accounting for trait variation within and among genotypes.3. We found considerable functional trait variation at all sampling levels, with variation within populations often surpassing variation among populations. Still, we observed population-level differences in trait values in 8 of the 12 species-by-trait combinations and populations largely segregated in multivariate trait space. 4. Synthesis and applications. Using micropropagation techniques, we uncovered population-level differences in functional trait variation, suggesting that mixing populations to create restoration germplasm following a regional admixture provenancing approach could lead to increased functional diversity in restorations. However, the substantial trait variation identified within some populations of our study species also suggests a similar potential when utilizing genotypically diverse material from even a single population. Further research on these and other species is needed to understand the structure of intraspecific functional trait variation and how it impacts ecosystem function. The approach outlined in this study can assist researchers in assessing the underlying trait variation present in various restoration materials and provide managers with more detailed information that can help make germplasm sourcing decisions. K E Y W O R D SColorado Plateau, germplasm, intraspecific trait variation, micropropagation, plant functional traits, regional admixture provenancing, restoration, seed sourcing | 865Journal of Applied Ecology ZELDIN Et aL. S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O NAdditional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Zeldin J, Lichtenberger TM, Foxx AJ, Webb Williams E, Kramer AT. Intraspecific functional trait structure of restoration-relevant species: Implications for restoration seed sourcing. J Appl Ecol. 2020;57:864-874.

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“…As a major environmental problem in drylands, wind erosion has drawn considerable attention from researchers [1][2][3]. Wind erosion reduces soil fertility [4,5], increases the frequency of sand storms [6], spreads diseases [7,8], and poses serious threats to the health of people and sustainable development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2019

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Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in drylands. Identifying the dominant natural factors of wind erosion and using targeted treatment measures are the key steps in wind erosion control. Using Horqin Left Back Banner in China as a case study, we applied the revised wind erosion equation to simulate the spatial distribution of wind erosion in the semi-arid sandy area. Contribution assessment and constraint line analysis were used to investigate the contributions of driving forces to wind erosion changes. The results showed that the wind erosion in the whole area was reduced by 0.35 t/hm2·a from 2005 to 2016. The wind factor and vegetation coverage factor had dominant contributions to the wind erosion modulus and accounted for the erosion in 49.87% and 50.13% of the total area, respectively. In addition, the average wind speed exceeding the threshold and the number of occurrences exhibited significant correlations with the wind erosion severity. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of vegetation coverage on wind erosion decreased with the increase in wind speed. The temporal mismatch between the wind speed and vegetation coverage was the main reason for the frequent severe wind erosion in spring. Reducing the spring wind speed through adding windbreaks would be an effective method for decreasing wind erosion in semi-arid areas.

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Potential impacts of overlapping land‐use and climate in a sensitive dryland: a case study of the Colorado Plateau, USA

Cited by 49 publications

References 55 publications

Wind erosion and dust from US drylands: a review of causes, consequences, and solutions in a changing world

Wind erosion and dust from US drylands: a review of causes, consequences, and solutions in a changing world

Intraspecific functional trait structure of restoration‐relevant species: Implications for restoration seed sourcing

Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China

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