Vegetation change on the Colorado Plateau
This project explores how dryland vegetation and soils will respond to past, current, and future climate and land use changes on the Colorado Plateau. Using data collected by the USGS starting in 1996, we are exploring trends and potential trajectories of dryland landscapes across a historic grazing gradient in Canyonlands National Park. Collected data include vegetation cover surveys, soil measurements (e.g. nutrient and carbon content, soil texture and mapping), and landscape characterizations. Recent analysis of long-term data shows ecosystem sensitivities to ongoing regional warming, with observed declines in biological soil crusts largely attributed to warmer summertime temperatures. Vegetation communities demonstrate more variability, with highest plant cover occurring in years with more precipitation. Findings from this study will inform Department of Interior and other federal, state, tribal and private land management decisions aimed at mitigating effects of climate change. Additionally, by providing information that will help distinguish ecosystem change due to climate alone from those changes attributable to land use (i.e. livestock grazing), the results of this work will help managers of complex, multi-use landscapes identify successful management actions.
This project explores how dryland vegetation and soils will respond to past, current, and future climate and land use changes on the Colorado Plateau. Using data collected by the USGS starting in 1996, we are exploring trends and potential trajectories of dryland landscapes across a historic grazing gradient in Canyonlands National Park. Collected data include vegetation cover surveys, soil measurements (e.g. nutrient and carbon content, soil texture and mapping), and landscape characterizations. Recent analysis of long-term data shows ecosystem sensitivities to ongoing regional warming, with observed declines in biological soil crusts largely attributed to warmer summertime temperatures. Vegetation communities demonstrate more variability, with highest plant cover occurring in years with more precipitation. Findings from this study will inform Department of Interior and other federal, state, tribal and private land management decisions aimed at mitigating effects of climate change. Additionally, by providing information that will help distinguish ecosystem change due to climate alone from those changes attributable to land use (i.e. livestock grazing), the results of this work will help managers of complex, multi-use landscapes identify successful management actions.