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Abstract The potential effects of climate change on the hydrology and water resources of the Colorado River basin are assessed by comparing simulated hydrologic and water resources scenarios derived from downscaled climate simulations of the U.S. Department of Energy/National Center for Atmospheric Research Parallel Climate Model (PCM) to scenarios driven by observed historical (1950–1999) climate. PCM climate scenarios include an ensemble of three 105-year future climate simulations based on projected `business-as-usual'(BAU) greenhouse gas emissions and a control climate simulation based on static 1995 greenhouse gas concentrations. Downscaled transient temperature and precipitation sequences were extracted...
This paper analyzes the effects of geology and geomorphology on surface-water/-groundwater interactions, evapotranspiration, and recharge under conditions of long-term climatic change. Our analysis uses hydrologic data from the glaciated Crow Wing watershed in central Minnesota, USA, combined with a hydrologic model of transient coupled unsaturated/saturated flow (HYDRAT2D). Analysis of historical water-table (1970–1993) and lake-level (1924–2002) records indicates that larger amplitude and longer period fluctuations occur within the upland portions of watersheds due to the response of the aquifer system to relatively short-term climatic fluctuations. Under drought conditions, lake and water-table levels fell by...
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Raw data were collected in Shenandoah National Park during summer 2012. Air and temperature data were collected using temperature loggers at several stations throughout the park. These data were used in the publication of the manuscript "Accounting for groundwater influence on headwater stream thermal sensitivity to climate change" through the journal Ecological Applications. Water temperature data were collected at all 78 reach locations during the summer of 2012 (23 June–7 September). Temperature was measured every hour with a logger.
Global warming may profoundly affect temporal and spatial distributions of surface water availability. While climate modelers cannot yet predict regional hydrologic changes with confidence, it is appropriate to begin examining the likely effects of water allocation institutions on society's adaptability to prospective climate change. Such institutions include basic systems of water law, specific statutes, systems of administration and enforcement, and social norms regarding acceptable water-use practices. Both climate and the changing nature of demands on the resource have affected the development and evolution of water allocation institutions in the United States. Water laws and administrative arrangements, for...
Rainfall during the warm season (June 15–October 15) is the most important of the year in terms of flood generation and erosion in rivers of the southern Colorado Plateau. Fluvial erosion of the plateau decreased substantially in the 1930s to early 1940s, although the cause of this change has not been linked to variation of warm-season rainfall. This study shows that a decrease of warmseason rainfall frequency was coincident with and probably caused the decreased erosion by reducing the probability of large floods. Warm-season rainfall results from isolated thunderstorms associated with the Southwestern monsoon and from dissipating tropical cyclones and (or) cutoff low-pressure systems that produce widespread,...
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Note: this data release has been superseded by version 2.0, available here: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9YKWWSZ This dataset contains discrete groundwater elevation measurements for wells in the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota.
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Playa wetlands on the west-central Great Plains of North America are vulnerable to sediment infilling from upland agriculture, putting at risk several important ecosystem services as well as essential habitats and food resources of diverse wetland-dependent biota. Climate predictions for this semi-arid area indicate reduced precipitation which may alter rates of erosion, runoff, and sedimentation of playas. We forecasted erosion rates, sediment depths, and resultant playa wetland depths across the west-central Great Plains and examined the relative roles of land use context and projected changes in precipitation in the sedimentation process. We estimated erosion with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)...
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Summary of project, results, and discussion for the study completed by Susan K. Skagen, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Victoria J. Dreitz, Ressa Yale Conrey, Lucy Burris, Gene Albanese, Craig A. Davis and Bradley W. Compton. Summary written by the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GP LCC).
Human activities have altered the distribution and quality of terrestrial ecosystems. Future demands for goods and services from terrestrial ecosystems will occur in aworld experiencing humaninduced climate change. In this study, we characterize the range in response of unmanaged ecosystems in the conterminous U.S. to 12 climate change scenarios.We obtained this response by simulating the climatically induced shifts in net primary productivity and geographical distribution of major biomes in the conterminous U.S. with the BIOME 3 model. BIOME 3 captured well the potential distribution of major biomes across the U.S. under baseline (current) climate.BIOME3 also reproduced the general trends of observed net primary...
A wide variety of regional assessments of the water-related impacts of climatic change have been done over the past two decades, using different methods, approaches, climate models, and assumptions. As part of the Water Sector research for the National Assessment of the Implications of Climatic Variability and Change for the United States, several major summaries have been prepared, looking at the differences and similarities in results among regional research projects. Two such summaries are presented here, for the Colorado River Basin and the Sacramento River Basin. Both of these watersheds are vitally important to the social, economic, and ecological character of their regions; both are large snowmelt-driven...
Continually rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and possible climatic change may cause significant changes in plant communities. This study was undertaken to investigate gas exchange in two important grass species of the short-grass steppe, Pascopyrum smithii (western wheat-grass), C3, and Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama), C4, grown at different CO2 concentrations and temperatures. Intact soil cores containing each species were extracted from grasslands in north-eastern Colorado, USA, placed in growth chambers, and grown at combinations of two CO2 concentrations (350 and 700 ?mol mol?1) and two temperature regimes (field average and elevated by 4�C). Leaf gas exchange was measured during the second, third and fourth...
Changes in the distribution of sub-alpine tree species in western North America have been attributed to climatic change and other environmental stresses. These changes include tree-line fluctuations throughout the Holocene and recent invasion of sub-alpine meadows by forest. Most palaeoecological studies suggest that the tree-line was higher during a period of warmer climate approximately 9000 to 5000 BP and lower during the last 5000 years, with short periods of local tree-line advance. Recent advances in sub-alpine tree distribution can be compared with weather records, allowing an examination of relationships between tree advance and climate at a finer resolution. In general, recent sub-alpine forest advances...
The area dominated by the shrubs creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) and mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) in the American southwest has increased several-fold over the last century, with a corresponding decrease in areal coverage of productive grasslands and increased surface soil erosion throughout the region. The factors thought to be responsible for this regional shift in vegetation are: (1) overgrazing by domestic livestock; (2) fire suppression; and (3) historical changes in climate. We examine the evidence concerning each of these factors and develop a synthetic model outlining the principles affecting shrubland encroachment, which focuses on life history characteristics of the dominant shrubs and a number of positive...
Water resource management requires knowledge of the natural variability in streamflow over multiple time scales. Reconstructions of streamflowderived from moisture-sensitive trees extend, in both time and magnitude, the variability provided by relatively short gage records. In this study, we present a network of 14 annual streamflow reconstructions, 300?600 years long, for gages in the Upper Colorado and South Platte River basins in Colorado generated from new and existing tree-ring chronologies. Gages for the reconstruction were selected on the basis of their importance to two of the largest Colorado Front Range water providers, who provided the natural flow data for the calibration with tree-ring data. The reconstruction...
map background search result map search result map The Effects of Climate Change on the Hydrology and Water Resources of the Colorado River Basin Implications of climate change for avian conservation in Great Plains landscapes Modeling sediment accumulation in North American playa wetlands in response to climate change, 1940–2100 2012 Air and Temperature Data from Shenandoah National Park Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wetlands Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wells Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wells - In Situ Measurements Project Summary: Implications of climate change for avian conservation in Great Plains landscapes Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Specific Conductance Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations (ver. 2.0) Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wetlands Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wells Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Water Chemistry - Wells - In Situ Measurements Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Specific Conductance Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations (ver. 2.0) 2012 Air and Temperature Data from Shenandoah National Park Implications of climate change for avian conservation in Great Plains landscapes Modeling sediment accumulation in North American playa wetlands in response to climate change, 1940–2100 Project Summary: Implications of climate change for avian conservation in Great Plains landscapes The Effects of Climate Change on the Hydrology and Water Resources of the Colorado River Basin