Intellectual Merit -- Chihuahuan Desert landscapes exemplify the ecological conditions, vulnerability, and management issues found in arid and semi-arid regions around the world. The goal of the Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research program established in 1982 is to understand and quantify the causes and consequences of desertification in these systems. In collaboration with our research partner, the Jornada Experimental Range (USDA ARS), we have incorporated studies beginning in 1915 into our program. In the past 6 years as part of LTER V, we expanded our plant-interspace resource redistribution framework to include multiple spatial and temporal scales in our landscape linkages framework. We elaborated on this landscape linkages framework by: (1) testing specific elements using existing long-term studies, (2) conducting a suite of new integrated, cross-scale experiments, both at the Jornada and in a nearby suburban interface, (3) continuing cross-site and regional studies designed to test its generality, and (4) forecasting alternative future landscapes under a changing environment that includes socioeconomic processes and explicit interactions with ecological systems. A key finding is that arid systems are much more complex than originally thought. Desertification associated with shifts from perennial grasslands to shrublands is only one possible state change in aridlands. A reversal of this shift from shrublands back towards perennial grasslands is possible following a sequence of wet years without livestock grazing. Transitions among different types of shrublands also occur as well as shifts from native species to non-native exotics as part of novel systems. These findings are leading to new studies in our newly funded LTER-VI award.

Over 280 journal articles and book chapters, 17 theses and dissertations, and 9 books were published between 2006-2012. Our database contains ca. 264 datasets derived from studies representing major themes in ecology. A table describing these datasets can be found on our web site (http://jornada-www.nmsu.edu/stats/LTERV/). On average, one or more of our datasets are accessed more than 238 times per month. 99% of our core long-term datasets are available online and the other 1% require permission from the responsible investigator.

Broader Impacts -- Our research activities provided training opportunities for a large number of graduate and undergraduate students, primarily from New Mexico State University, a Hispanic-serving institution. Our international scientific collaborations included cooperative agreements with research and academic institutions on four continents (North and South America, Asia, Europe). Our research supported a highly successful K-12 and teacher training program: over 50,000 students, teachers, and other adults were involved in educational outreach programs during LTER V. These programs included field trips, schoolyard ecology activities, teacher workshops, and public education events. The research included interactions with resource management practitioners through workshops, seminars, and service by LTER scientists on various boards of directors. Our annual research symposium is attended by > 100 scientists, educators, and land managers. Our semi-annual newsletter is available on our web page and is distributed to > 300 people.

Last Modified: 09/19/2013
Modified by: Debra P Peters