Skip to main content
Advanced Search

Folders: ROOT > ScienceBase Catalog > National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers > South Central CASC > FY 2016 Projects ( Show direct descendants )

50 results (11ms)   

Filters
Date Range
Extensions
Types
Contacts
Categories
Tag Types
Tag Schemes
View Results as: JSON ATOM CSV
Conservative agricultural management strategies pursue long-term ecological benefits through practices such as no-tillage, cover crop, and inherent soil properties management. Farmers, however, are often hesitant to adopt such practices due to lack of experience, initial expense, and concern for low crop productivity. Overcoming this barrier requires novel approaches, such as effectively managing the soil microbiome to attain high productivity at a low cost, especially in a semi-arid region. To study the potential of conservation agriculture, we investigated components of soil bacterial community and rhizobial diversity in long-term experimental cotton fields divided into conventional tillage monoculture systems...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
thumbnail
Scientists, planners, policy makers and other decision-makers in the South Central U.S. want to understand the potential impacts of changes in climate, precipitation, and land-use patterns on natural and cultural resources. Though the potential impacts of climate change can be modeled to help decision-makers plan for future conditions, these models rarely incorporate changes in land-use that may occur. Climate change and land-use change are often linked, as shifts in precipitation and temperature can alter patterns in human land-use activities, such as agriculture. This project sought to address this gap by developing new software tools that enable stakeholders to quickly develop custom, climate-sensitive land-use...
thumbnail
Many shorebirds and nearshore waterbirds are of conservation concern across the Gulf of Mexico due to stressors such as human disturbance, predation, and habitat loss and degradation. Conservation and protection of these birds is important for the functioning of healthy ecosystems and for maintaining biodiversity in North America. Consequently, resource managers along the gulf need decision-aiding tools that can efficiently help to answer important conservation questions for different species (e.g. which areas and how much area should be targeted by management actions to meet a particular species’ needs). To address this need, project researchers are developing statistical models that will help identify habitat...
thumbnail
The Rio Grande River is a critical source of freshwater for 13 million people in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. More than half of the Rio Grande’s streamflow originates as snowmelt in Colorado’s mountains, meaning that changes in the amount of snowmelt can impact the water supply for communities along the entire river. Snowmelt runoff is therefore an important component of water supply outlooks for the region, which are used by a variety of stakeholders to anticipate water availability in the springtime. It is critical that these water supply outlooks be as accurate as possible. Errors can cost states millions of dollars due to mis-allocation of water and lost agricultural productivity. There is a perception...
thumbnail
The U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to assess the effects of changing climate and land disturbance on seasonal streamflow in the Rio Grande Headwaters (RGHW) region. Three applications of PRMS in the RGHW were used to simulate 1) baseline effects of climate, 2) effects of bark-beetle induced tree mortality, and 3) effects of wildfire, on components of the hydrologic cycle and subsequent seasonal streamflow runoff from April through September for water years 1980 through 2017. PRMS input files and select PRMS output variables for each simulation are contained in this data release to accompany the journal article.
thumbnail
This project facilitated the implementation of a multiyear project to understand how climate variability and management practices influence soil microbial and nutrient dynamics within a no-till cotton production system with stubble management. Three fields at the R.N. Hooper farm in Petersburgh, TX were used for this project and continue to be monitored with funds from Cotton Inc. The three fields are center-pivot irrigated to compensate for rainfall variability as needed and depending upon water availability. The three fields were planted into the following crops for 2017 : Field 1 – corn following cotton; Field 2 – cotton following corn, and Field 3 – Wheat/mixed summer cover following wheat. The sizes of the...
Future climate projections illuminate our understanding of the climate system and generate data products often used in climate impact assessments. Statistical downscaling (SD) is commonly used to address biases in global climate models (GCM) and to translate large‐scale projected changes to the higher spatial resolutions desired for regional and local scale studies. However, downscaled climate projections are sensitive to method configuration and input data source choices made during the downscaling process that can affect a projection's ultimate suitability for particular impact assessments. Quantifying how changes in inputs or parameters affect SD‐generated projections of precipitation is critical for improving...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
Abstract (from Wiley Online Library) A method is developed for choosing 21st Century streamflow projections among widely varying results from a large ensemble of climate model-driven simulations. We quantify observed trends in climate–streamflow relationships in the Rio Grande headwaters, which has experienced warming temperature and declining snowpack since the mid-20th Century. Prominent trends in the snowmelt runoff season are used to assess corresponding statistics in downscaled global climate model projections. We define “Observationally Consistent (OC)” simulations as those that reproduce historical changes to linear statistics of diminished snowpack–streamflow coupling in the headwaters and an associated...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
thumbnail
The U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to assess the effects of changing climate and land disturbance on seasonal streamflow in the Rio Grande Headwaters (RGHW) region. Three applications of PRMS in the RGHW were used to simulate 1) baseline effects of climate (see RGHW-PRMS_baseline_input.zip), 2) effects of bark-beetle induced tree mortality (see RGHW-PRMS_BB_input.zip), and 3) effects of wildfire (see RGHW-PRMS_fire_input.zip), on components of the hydrologic cycle by hydrologic response unit (HRU) and subsequent seasonal streamflow runoff from April through September for water years 1980 through 2017. PRMS input files (control, climate-by-hru, data, parameter, dynamic...
Coastal wetlands provide many valuable benefits to people and wildlife, including critical habitat, improved water quality, reduced flooding impacts, and protected coastlines. However, in the 21st century, accelerated sea-level rise and coastal development are expected to greatly alter coastal landscapes across the globe. The future of coastal wetlands is uncertain, challenging coastal environmental managers to develop conservation strategies that will increase the resilience of these valuable ecosystems to change and preserve the benefits they provide. One strategy for preparing for the effects of sea-level rise is to ensure that there is space available for coastal wetlands to migrate inland. In a recent study,...
This webinar is part of a series featuring South Central Climate Science Center researchers studying the Rio Grande, a critical water resource for people and wildlife. Learn more at southcentralclimate.org and view the other webinars in this series here.
Abstract (from ScienceDirect): The Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative uses temporally dense Landsat data and time series analyses to characterize landscape change in the United States from 1985 to present. LCMAP will be used to explain how past, present, and future landscape change affects society and natural systems. Here, we describe a modeling framework for producing high-resolution (spatial and thematic) landscape projections at a national scale, using a unique parcel-based modeling framework. The methodology was tested by modeling 11 land use scenarios and 3 climate realizations for the U.S. Great Plains. Results demonstrate 1) an ability to balance competing land-use demands...
map background search result map search result map Developing Tools for Improved Water Supply Forecasting in the Rio Grande Headwaters Approved DataSets Building a Decision-Support Tool for Assessing the Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change on Ecological Processes Identifying Conservation Objectives for the Gulf Coast Habitats of the Black Skimmer and Gull-billed Tern Model input and output for hydrologic simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) Model input for Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, for water years 1980 through 2017 Initiating the Development of Regional Demonstration Fields for Implementing Soil Practices That Maximize Soil Health and Drought Resilience: Understanding Microbial-Temperature Dynamics Developing Tools for Improved Water Supply Forecasting in the Rio Grande Headwaters Model input and output for hydrologic simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) Model input for Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System simulations in the Rio Grande Headwaters, Colorado, for water years 1980 through 2017 Identifying Conservation Objectives for the Gulf Coast Habitats of the Black Skimmer and Gull-billed Tern Initiating the Development of Regional Demonstration Fields for Implementing Soil Practices That Maximize Soil Health and Drought Resilience: Understanding Microbial-Temperature Dynamics Building a Decision-Support Tool for Assessing the Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change on Ecological Processes