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Natural landscapes in the Southwestern United States are changing. In recent decades, rising temperatures and drought have led to drier conditions, contributed to large-scale ecological impacts, and affected many plant and animal species across the region. The current and future trajectory of climate change underscores the need for managers and conservation professionals to understand the impacts of these patterns on natural resources. In this regional assessment of the Southwest Climate Change Initiative, we evaluate changes in annual average temperatures from 1951–2006 across major habitats and large watersheds and compare these changes to the number of species of conservation concern that are found within these...
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Floods, spatially complex water flows, and organism movements all generate important fluxes of aquatic-derived materials into terrestrial habitats, counteracting the gravity-driven downhill transport of matter from terrestrial-to-aquatic ecosystems. The magnitude of these aquatic subsidies isoften smaller than terrestrial subsidies to aquatic ecosystems but higher in nutritional quality, energy density, and nutrient concentration. The lateral extent of biological aquatic subsidies is typically small, extending only a few meters into riparian habitat; however, terrestrial consumers often aggregate on shorelines to capitalize on these high-quality resources. Although the ecological effects of aquatic subsidies remain...
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How local geomorphic and hydrologic features mediate the sensitivity of stream thermal regimes to variation in climatic conditions remains a critical uncertainty in understanding aquatic ecosystem responses to climate change. We used stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen to estimate contributions of snow and rainfall to 80 boreal streams and show that differences in snow contribution are controlled by watershed topography. Time series analysis of stream thermal regimes revealed that streams in rain-dominated, low-elevation watersheds were 5–8 times more sensitive to variation in summer air temperature compared to streams draining steeper topography whose flows were dominated by snowmelt. This effect was more pronounced...
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Grasslands of the Sky Islands region once covered over 13 million acres in southeastern Arizona and adjacent portions of New Mexico, Sonora, and Chihuahua. Attempts to evaluate current ecological conditions suggest that approximately two thirds of these remain as intact or restorable grassland habitat. These grasslands provide watershed services such as flood control and aquifer recharge across the region, and continue to support dozens of species of concern. Prioritizing conservation interventions for these remaining grassland blocks has been challenging. Reliable data on condition and conservation value of grasslands in the region have not been systematically summarized. State and national boundaries further complicate...
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In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satellite-derived lake data, we find that lakesummer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global mean = 0.34°C decade1) between 1985 and2009. Our analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate andlocal characteristics, rather than just lake location, leading to the counterintuitive result that regionalconsistency in lake warming is the exception, rather than the rule. The most rapidly warming lakes are widelygeographically distributed, and their warming is associated with interactions among different climatic factors—from seasonally ice-covered lakes in areas where temperature and solar radiation are increasing whilecloud...
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Riparian grasslands dominated by big sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) once covered floodplains across the southwest, but have been reduced to some 5% of their historical extent. Sacaton stands that remain provide key resources for watershed function, wildlife, and livestock—yet may need special management to sustain these benefits. This report describes mapping methods and management recommendations that can be applied to riparian grasslands throughout the region. By examining sacaton grasslands in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, this project also refines methods for evaluating ecological condition, and provides managers at this site with detailed maps of both high-quality habitat and restoration needs.
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When resources are spatially and temporally variable, consumers can increasetheir foraging success by moving to track ephemeral feeding opportunitiesas these shift across the landscape; the best examples derive from herbivore–plant systems, where grazers migrate to capitalize on the seasonal waves ofvegetation growth. We evaluated whether analogous processes occur in watershedssupporting spawning sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), askingwhether seasonal activities ofpredators and scavengers shift spatial distributionsto capitalize on asynchronous spawning among populations of salmon. Bothglaucous-winged gulls and coastal brown bears showed distinct shifts in theirspatial distributions over the course of the summer,...
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Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structureand function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakesacross many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associatedwith the magnitude of these trends remains unclear. Thus, a global data set of water temperature isrequired to understand and synthesize global, long-term trends in surface water temperatures of inlandbodies of water. We assembled a database of summer lake surface temperatures for 291 lakes collectedin situ and/or by satellites for the period 1985–2009. In addition, corresponding climatic drivers (airtemperatures,...
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How local geomorphic and hydrologic features mediate the sensitivity of stream thermal regimesto variation in climatic conditions remains a critical uncertainty in understanding aquatic ecosystem responsesto climate change.We used stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen to estimate contributions of snow and rainfallto 80 boreal streams and show that differences in snow contribution are controlled by watershed topography.Time series analysis of streamthermal regimes revealed that streams in rain-dominated, low-elevation watershedswere 5–8 times more sensitive to variation in summer air temperature compared to streams draining steepertopography whose flows were dominated by snowmelt. This effect wasmore pronounced...
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NatureServe worked with several federal, state, and NGO partners in the United States and Mexico to conduct a climate change vulnerability assessment of major natural community types found within the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. The project focused on ten major upland, riparian, and aquatic community types, including pinyon-juniper woodlands, Joshua tree-blackbrush scrub, creosote-bursage scrub, salt desert scrub, Paloverde-mixed cacti scrub, semi-desert grassland, desert riparian and stream, riparian mesquite bosque, and desert springs. This effort piloted a new Habitat Climate Change Vulnerability Index (HCCVI) approach being developed by NatureServe, as a companion to an existing index for species. The project...
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This report is volume 2 of a two-volume ecological assessment of grassland ecosystems in the Southwestern United States. Broad-scale assessments are syntheses of current scientific knowledge, including a description of uncertainties and assumptions, to provide a characterization and comprehensive description of ecological, social, and economic components within an assessment area. Volume 1 of this assessment focused on the ecology, types, conditions, and management practices of Southwestern grasslands. Volume 2 (this volume) describes wildlife and fish species, their habitat requirements, and species-specific management concerns, in Southwestern grasslands. This assessment is regional in scale and pertains primarily...
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Most groundwater conservation and management efforts focus on protecting groundwater for drinking water and for other human uses with little understanding or focus on the ecosystems that depend on groundwater. However, groundwater plays an integral role in sustaining certain types of aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, and their associated landscapes. Our aim was to illuminate the connection between groundwater and surface ecosystems by identifying and mapping the distribution of groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in California. This layer includes watersheds from the Watershed Boundary Database at the 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC12) scale. Each watershed is attributed with summary information...
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This report is volume 1 of a two-volume ecological assessment of grassland ecosystems in the Southwestern United States. Broadscale assessments are syntheses of current scientific knowledge, including a description of uncertainties and assumptions, to provide a characterization and comprehensive description of ecological, social, and economic components within an assessment area. Volume 1 of this assessment focuses on the ecology, types, conditions, and management practices of Southwestern grasslands. The second volume, due to be published in 2005, describes wildlife and fish species, their habitat requirements, and species-specific management concerns, in Southwestern grasslands. This assessment is regional in...
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Spawning migrations of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) to coastal watersheds provide a rich resource subsidy to freshwater consumers. However, variation in thermal regimes and spawning activity across the landscape constrain the ability of poikilothermic consumers to assimilate eggs and carcasses. We investigated how sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) spawning density and stream temperature affect the growth, body condition, and fatty acid composition of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), a known egg predator, in seven tributaries of the Wood River in Southwest Alaska. We compared mean body size of juvenile coho salmon in late summer among 3–7 years per stream and found that the largest mean size occurred...
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An important unresolved question is how populations of coldwater-dependent fishes will respond to rapidly warming water temperatures. For example, the culturally and economically important group, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), experience site-specific thermal regimes during early development that could be disrupted by warming. To test for thermal local adaptation and heritable phenotypic plasticity in Pacific salmon embryos, we measured the developmental rate, survival, and body size at hatching in two populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that overlap in timing of spawning but incubate in contrasting natural thermal regimes. Using a split half-sibling design, we exposed embryos of 10 families...
Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Academics & scientific researchers, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODELS, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODELS, DATA REFORMATTING, DATA REFORMATTING, All tags...
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The rapidly increasing demands being placed on our deserts points to the urgent need for a connectivity assessment that spans multiple jurisdictional boundaries and promotes the partnerships needed to implement a regional conservation strategy for this diverse and striking landscape. The vast scale of renewable energy developments proposed in the California deserts are likely to impact habitat connectivity, alter essential ecosystem functions, and eliminate opportunities for species to shift their ranges in response to climate change. The potential impacts of energy development on our existing public lands, specifically to wildlife and their ability to move across the landscape, are enormous. The primary goal of...
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Intraspecific variation in the seasonal reproductive timing of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) has importantimplications for the resilience of salmon and for organisms in freshwater and terrestrial communities that dependon salmon resources. Stream temperature has well known associations with salmon spawn timing buthow stream and watershed geomorphology relates to the variation in salmon spawn timing is less understood.We used multivariate statistics applied to five environmental variables to compare conditions across36 watersheds in the Wood River basin in southwest Alaska. We found that the environmental conditionsin the first two axes of a principal components analysis (PCA) explained 76% of the variation in...
    map background search result map search result map A Linkage Network for the California Deserts Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Strategies for Natural Communities Sustaining the Grassland Sea Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States, Volume 1 Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish, Volume 2 Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Sacaton Riparian Grasslands Mapping Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California Watershed geomorphology and snowmelt control stream thermal sensitivity to air temperature. Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe Association between geomorphic attributes of watersheds, water temperature, and salmon spawn timing in Alaskan streams Watershed geomorphology and snowmelt control stream thermal sensitivity to air temperature Thermal adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in a warming world: Insights from common garden experiments on Alaskan sockeye salmon Thermal constraints on stream consumer responses to a marine resource subsidy Riding the crimson tide: mobile terrestrial consumers track phenological variation in spawning of an anadromous fish Subsidies of Aquatic Resources in Terrestrial Ecosystems A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009 Sacaton Riparian Grasslands Thermal adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in a warming world: Insights from common garden experiments on Alaskan sockeye salmon Watershed geomorphology and snowmelt control stream thermal sensitivity to air temperature. Association between geomorphic attributes of watersheds, water temperature, and salmon spawn timing in Alaskan streams Riding the crimson tide: mobile terrestrial consumers track phenological variation in spawning of an anadromous fish Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe Watershed geomorphology and snowmelt control stream thermal sensitivity to air temperature Thermal constraints on stream consumer responses to a marine resource subsidy Subsidies of Aquatic Resources in Terrestrial Ecosystems A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009 Sustaining the Grassland Sea A Linkage Network for the California Deserts Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Strategies for Natural Communities Mapping Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States, Volume 1 Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish, Volume 2