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Drylands are considered a net sink for atmospheric methane and a main component of global inventories for greenhouse gas budgets. However, a significant portion of drylands occur over sedimentary basins hosting natural gas and oil reservoirs, with gas migration to the surface (named “microseepage”) producing positive atmospheric CH4 fluxes. In this overview, we summarize the outcomes of microseepage surveys performed in different petroleum basins, describe how the microseepage area is estimated and what are the emission factors that can be used for a preliminary global emission estimate. Microseepage frequently overcomes methanotrophic consumption occurring in dry soil throughout large areas, and it is enhanced...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: CH4, Methane, drylands, microseepage, soil
The Bibliography of Aeolian Research (The BAR) contains 36,342 references to papers and reports that focus on aeolian research — the study of detachment, transport, and deposition of sediments by wind. Aeolian research spans a broad array of disciplines and may include: * the study of the physics of blowing sand, dust, and other granular material (i.e., saltation, suspension, creep and abrasion); * the study of geomorphic processes in arid environments and associated aeolian landforms, deposits, and sedimentary features; * the study of wind erosion and its control by tillage, cover crops, shelterbelts, and other management practices; and * the study of mineral dust, dust emissions, atmospheric transport and the...
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Drylands are integral to the Earth system and the present and future of human society. Drylands encompass more than 40% of the terrestrial landmass and support 34% of the world’s human population. Biocrusts are the “living skin” of Earth’s drylands, sometimes dominating the ground cover and figuring prominently in ecosystem structure and function. Biocrusts are a biological aggregate of cyanobacteria, fungi, algae, lichens and mosses in the surface millimeters of soil. By aggregating soil, biocrusts make sediment less erodible. They also strongly influence the water runoff-infiltration balance. In some ecosystems they generate runoff, whereas in other systems they enhance water capture. Vascular plant germination,...
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These data were compiled to represent the distribution of environmental conditions with recognized importance to perennial grasses in dryland areas of the western U.S. Objective(s) of our study were to … evaluate how those environmental drivers are related to perennial grass distributions and use the results to assess how perennial grass distributions may shift in response to future climate change. These data represent ecological niche models for 11 perennial grass species that are important components of grasslands on the Colorado Plateau. Data are provided as rasters (tif format) with each containing data about future change in climatic suitability for a give species, future time period, representative concentration...
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These data were compiled to measure airborne horizontal mass flux of sediments moved by wind across soils, climates, vegetation types, and land uses on the Colorado Plateau. Objectives of our study were to quantify spatial and temporal patterns in wind erosion and further our understanding of how soil and site setting, climate, and land uses are controlling wind erosion and horizontal mass flux. These data represent seasonal cumulative horizontal mass flux as measured using passive aspirated sediment traps, Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) samplers. These data were collected in Grand and San Juan counties, Utah, and Mesa County, Colorado, USA between August 2017 and November 2020. These data were collected by the...
Categories: Data; Tags: Bears Ears National Monument, Big Springs Number Eight samplers, Canyonlands National Park, Climatology, Colorado Plateau, All tags...
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Large sediment fluxes can have significant impacts on ecosystems. We measured incoming and outgoing sediment across a gradient of soil disturbance (livestock grazing, plowing) and annual plant invasion for 9 years. Our sites included two currently ungrazed sites: one never grazed by livestock and dominated by perennial grasses/well-developed biocrusts and one not grazed since 1974 and dominated by annual weeds with little biocrusts. We used two currently grazed sites: one dominated by annual weeds and the other dominated by perennial plants, both with little biocrusts. Precipitation was highly variable, with years of average, above-average, and extremely low precipitation. During years with average and above-average...
Land degradation in drylands is one of the major environmental issues of the 21st century particularly due to its impact on world food security and environmental quality. Climate change, shifts in vegetation composition, accelerated soil erosion processes, and disturbances have rendered these landscapes susceptible to rapid degradation that has important feedbacks on regional climate and desertification. Even though the role of hydrologic–aeolian erosion and vegetation dynamic processes in accelerating land degradation is well recognized, most studies have concentrated only on the role of one or two of these components, and not on the interactions among all three. Drawing on relevant published studies, here we...
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Biological soil crusts (BSCs), a consortium of cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses, are essential in most dryland ecosystems. As these organisms are relatively immobile and occur on the soil surface, they are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, rising temperatures, and alterations in precipitation patterns. In this study, we applied treatments to three types of BSCs (early, medium, and late successional) over three time periods (spring, summer, and spring–fall). In the first year, we augmented UV and altered precipitation patterns, and in the second year, we augmented UV and N. In the first year, with average air temperatures, we saw little response to our...
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These data were compiled to investigate differentiation in physiological activity varies through time for different functional groups. These include the seasonal progress of 13 plant species representing perennial C3 shrub, C3 grass, C4 grass, and annual forb functional groups of the Colorado Plateau, USA. These data can be used to test for differences in carbon assimilation strategies (SeasonalEcophyAciData) and how photosynthetic rates related to climate (SeasonalEcophyMonthlyData). Data can be arranged at the seasonal, annual, species-, or functional group-levels to compare multi-level processes.
map background search result map search result map Global change and biological soil crusts: effects of ultraviolet augmentation under altered precipitation regimes and nitrogen additions Sediment losses and gains across a gradient of livestock grazing and plant invasion in a cool, semi-arid grassland, Colorado Plateau, USA Seasonal ecophysiological measurement data from December 2015 to September 2016, southeastern Utah Bioclimatic suitability for 11 dominant Colorado Plateau perennial grass species (ver. 2.0, November 2022) Aeolian mass flux data for the Colorado Plateau Seasonal ecophysiological measurement data from December 2015 to September 2016, southeastern Utah Global change and biological soil crusts: effects of ultraviolet augmentation under altered precipitation regimes and nitrogen additions Sediment losses and gains across a gradient of livestock grazing and plant invasion in a cool, semi-arid grassland, Colorado Plateau, USA Aeolian mass flux data for the Colorado Plateau Bioclimatic suitability for 11 dominant Colorado Plateau perennial grass species (ver. 2.0, November 2022)