Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote‐sensing approach

Cartwright, Jennifer M.; Johnson, Henry M.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.2155

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…They constitute locations of significant ecological contribution since they provide freshwater for animals and humans. Furthermore, in semi-arid areas like Kazakhstan where annual precipitation is low, seasonal or perennial springs provide places of hydrologic refugia during periods of fluctuating climate (Cartwright and Johnson, 2018). The potential role of springs for hominin survival, evolution, and dispersal has been explored with positive results in the arid environments of East Africa (Cuthbert et al, 2017).…”

Section: Springsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The more frequent visits to these localities, as opposed to those with more ephemeral springs, should therefore translate to a higher accumulation of cultural material. According to Cartwright and Johnson (2018), the stability of spring discharge is determined by type of recharge, flow-path length, groundwater volume and residence time. They specifically note that large-volume springs with relatively stable discharge are commonly associated with extensive, high-primary-permeability geologic units or with geologic structure and faulting that provide secondary permeability in the aquifer.…”

Section: Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Ioviţă

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Namen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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Paleoanthropological data suggest that the Late Pleistocene was a time of population contact and possibly dispersal in Central Asia. Geographic and paleoclimatic data suggest that a natural corridor through Kazakhstan linked areas to the north and east (Siberia, China) to those further to the west and south (Uzbekistan), much akin to a Paleolithic Silk Road. We review the known Pleistocene archaeology and paleoclimatic setting of this region and provide a geoarchaeological framework for contextualizing preliminary survey results of the PALAEOSILKROAD project's first three seasons of fieldwork. We discuss some systematic biases in three geomorphic and sedimentary archives: karst, loess, and spring deposits, specifying ways in which these biases might determine the kinds of data that are extractable by systematic survey. In particular, we caution about the possibility of future systematic biases in chronology that could come about as a result of the type of geomorphic context in which the sites are recovered. We conclude with recommendations for future work in the area.

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Section: Springsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Ioviţă

Varis

Namen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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“…Importantly, individual islands within an insular ecosystem type may vary widely in their degree of stress‐regime change (and therefore their refugial capacity), given similar exposure to regional climate change. For instance, some springs may provide stable microrefugia in a drying climate whereas others nearby may cease flowing entirely (Cartwright and Johnson ).…”

Section: Anticipating Climate‐change Effects In Insular Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological islands: conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate

Cartwright

2019

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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For decades, botanists have recognized that rare plants are clustered into ecological “islands”: small and isolated habitat patches produced by landscape features such as sinkholes and bedrock outcrops. Insular ecosystems often provide unusually stressful microhabitats for plant growth (due, for example, to their characteristically thin soils, high temperatures, extreme pH, or limited nutrients) to which rare species are specially adapted. Climate‐driven changes to these stressors may undermine the competitive advantage of stress‐adapted species, allowing them to be displaced by competitors, or may overwhelm their coping strategies altogether. Special features of insular ecosystems – such as extreme habitat fragmentation and association with unusual landscape features – could also affect their climate sensitivity and adaptive capacity. To help predict and manage climate‐change impacts, I present a simple conceptual framework based on a synthesis of over 300 site‐level studies. Using this framework, conservation efforts can leverage existing ecological knowledge to anticipate habitat changes and design targeted strategies for conserving rare species.

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“…Identifying generalizable patterns in meadow response to climate variability using landscape‐scale predictors would allow managers to better anticipate meadow trajectories and persistence in response to climate variability and change. Landsat satellite imagery has proven to be an effective and efficient data source for monitoring key ecological attributes of meadows and riparian systems over extensive areas and time periods (Ager & Owens, ; Cartwright & Johnson, ; Cohen & Goward, ), including above‐ground biomass, which relates to vegetation structure, function and composition, and vegetation water content. Recent advances in cloud computing (Gorelick et al, ) now permit efficient application of algorithms across the Landsat satellite image archive for long‐term monitoring of groundwater dependent ecosystems with respect to climate and management (Dauwalter, Fesenmyer, Miller, & Porter, ; Hausner et al, ; Huntington et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of meadow sensitivities to interannual climate variability in the Sierra Nevada

et al. 2019

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Conservation of montane meadows is a high priority for land and water managers given their critical role in buffering the effects of climate variability and their vulnerability to increasing temperatures and evaporative demands. Recent advances in cloud computing have provided new opportunities to examine ecological responses to climate variability over the past few decades and at large spatial scales. In this study, we characterized the sensitivities (magnitude and direction of the slope) of meadow vegetation responses to interannual variations in climate. We calculated sensitivity as the regression slope between a 31‐year (1985–2016) time series of Landsat‐derived vegetation indices characterizing late‐season vegetation vigour and water balance variables from the Basin Characterization Model. We identified April 1 snowpack as the climate variable the majority of meadows were most sensitive to. We assessed how vegetation sensitivities to snowpack varied with hydrogeomorphic context (e.g., climate, geology, soils, watershed geometry, and land cover) across the Sierra Nevada mountain range using factor analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the hydrogeomorphic data and multiple linear regression to model sensitivity responses. We found that meadow sensitivities to snowpack varied with long‐term average meadow climate, indicators of watershed subsurface water storage capacity, and indicators of meadow vegetation composition. Alpine and subalpine meadows with high average annual precipitation but limited catchment subsurface storage exhibited the largest sensitivities. Our results provide a novel regional perspective on spatial patterns of meadow sensitivities to climate variability and the landscape‐scale hydrogeomorphic factors that influence late‐season water availability in meadow ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada.

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Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote‐sensing approach

Cited by 20 publications

References 50 publications

In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Ecological islands: conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate

Spatial patterns of meadow sensitivities to interannual climate variability in the Sierra Nevada

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