| NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 16, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 24, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1232294 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Saran Twombly
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | January 15, 2013 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2015 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,960,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,043,064.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2014 = $998,256.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE NM US 87131-0001 (505)277-4186 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NM US 87131-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, SEES Fellows |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
This award continues funding the long-term research program in aridland ecology. The research is to understand how the physical environment and climate variability together affect common species, community dynamics and ecosystem processes in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. The Sevilleta LTER Program addresses ecological concepts and theory emphasizing pulse driven processes in space and time through comprehensive and interdisciplinary research in desert grassland, shrubland, forest and riparian habitats in central New Mexico. Through a combination of long-term measurements, experiments, and modeling, the research considers how climate and the physical environment interact to effect change in aridland ecosystems. The focal sites are the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and the Middle Rio Grande Basin. The Sevilleta LTER support our Schoolyard LTER program, the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, reaches hundreds of middle and high school students annually in classroom and outdoor settings. The Arts and Ecology REU Program brings together students from fine arts and ecology for an 11-week summer research and creative experience. LTER scientists and students actively participate in the Ecological Society of America?s SEEDS Program by hosting workshops and mentoring SEEDS Fellows. The Sevilleta LTER participates in the newly developed Junior Scientist Outreach Program, a program sponsored by the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico, which targets underserved Hispanic students in Albuquerque's south valley. Activities include organized visits to the campus, summer field camps, and active participation in field research.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This funding allowed us to continue our long-term study of how climate change and climate variability affects the plant and animal communities and ecosystem processes of a rapidly changing arid landscape in New Mexico. The study site is in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, which has the good fortune of being located at multiple biome transitions - the boundaries between dramatically different plant and animal communities. Two major boundaries in our study area include the transition from Great Plains to Desert Grassland and from Desert Grassland to Creosotebush dominated shrubland. The change from Great Plains to Desert grassland paves the way for invasion of grassland by the native shrub, creosotebush. This transition has significant ecological implications. Shrub dominated ecosystems have (1) high rates of soil erosion and nutrient losses, (2) changes in biodiversity (some higher, some lower), which matters in a wildlife conservation area, (3) warmer winter nightime temperatures - as much as projected by climate change itself, (4) loss of economic value, and (5) the potential to sequester more carbon than Desert grassland. In other words, trade-offs in ecosystem services. To address these issues we conducted a number of long- and short-term field experiments and quantified change in net primary production and species composition in grassland ans shrubland communities. Results suggest that transitioning back from shrubland to grassland is next to impossible, so once the grass-shrub transition occurs it is stable under current and likely future climate scenarios.
During our funding period we involved numerous graduate and undergraduate students in our research. We consider our site to be a research and training platform. Ultimately, we advanced theory regarding how aridland ecosystems work and we enhanced the educational experience of many graduate and undergraduate students.
Last Modified: 01/20/2016
Modified by: Scott L Collins
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