Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Satellite-Observed Photosynthetic Trends Across Boreal North America Associated With Climate And Fire Disturbance, Scott J. Goetz, Andrew Godard Bunn, Gregory J. Fiske, Richard A. Houghton

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We analyzed trends in a time series of photosynthetic activity across boreal North America over 22 years (1981 through 2003). Nearly 15% of the region displayed significant trends, of which just over half involved temperature-related increases in growing season length and photosynthetic intensity, mostly in tundra. In contrast, forest areas unaffected by fire during the study period declined in photosynthetic activity and showed no systematic change in growing season length. Stochastic changes across the time series were predominantly associated with a frequent and increasing fire disturbance regime. These trends have implications for the direction of feedbacks to the climate system …

Nonlinear Dynamics In Ecosystem Response To Climatic Change: Case Studies And Policy Implications, Virginia R. Burkett, Douglas A. Wilcox, Wilcox Stottlemyer, Wylie Barrow, Dan Fagre, Jill Baron, Jeff Price, Jennifer L. Nielsen, Craig D. Allen, David L. Peterson, Greg Ruggerone, Thomas Doyle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Many biological, hydrological, and geological processes are interactively linked in ecosystems. These ecological phenomena normally vary within bounded ranges, but rapid, nonlinear changes to markedly different conditions can be triggered by even small differences if threshold values are exceeded. Intrinsic and extrinsic ecological thresholds can lead to effects that cascade among systems, precluding accurate modeling and prediction of system response to climate change. Ten case studies from North America illustrate how changes in climate can lead to rapid, threshold-type responses within ecological communities; the case studies also highlight the role of human activities that alter the rate or direction of …

Agenda: Hard Times On The Colorado River: Drought, Growth And The Future Of The Compact, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Assessment (Program), Colorado Water Conservation Board, Center For Advanced Decision Support For Water And Environmental Systems, Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Colorado Foundation For Water Education, Patrick, Miller & Kropf, P.C., William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

Hard Times on the Colorado River: Drought, Growth and the Future of the Compact (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

Sponsors and Contributors: Colorado Water Conservation Board, Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems, Western Water Assessment, CU-CIRES/NOAA, Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Colorado Foundation for Water Education, Patrick, Miller & Kropf, P.C., William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The Colorado River is approaching a crossroads. For the first time in its history, satisfying water demands in one state may require curtailing legally-recognized uses in another. This is not the first instance of water shortages in the region, and conflict among the seven Colorado River states is certainly not new. But the potential shortages on …

Stormwater Utility Fees: Considerations & Options For Interlocal Stormwater Working Group (Iswg), New England Environmental Finance Center

Water

Stormwater utilities are a concept whose time seems to have arrived. Established by relatively few communities in the 1970s as a method of funding flood control measures, stormwater utilities now exist in over 400 municipalities and counties throughout the United States. During the next 10 years, their numbers are expected to swell dramatically – by one estimate to over 2,000 by the year 2014.

The reasons for this growth are multifold. Federal stormwater regulations passed in the 1980s (Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program, or NPDES), motivated many larger communities to seek alternative funding sources and …

Indicators Of Climate Change In The Northeast 2005, Adam Markham, Cameron P. Wake

The Sustainability Institute Publications

Climate changes. It always has and always will. What is unique in modern times is that human activities are now a significant factor causing climate to change. This is evident in the recent rise in key greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), in the atmosphere, and in the recent increase in global temperatures in the lower atmosphere and in the surface ocean.

The evidence presented in this report clearly illustrates that climate in New England is also changing. Over the past 100 years, and especially the last 30 years, all of the climate change indicators for the region reveal …

Crop Updates 2005 - Farming Systems, David Stephens, Nicola Telcik, Ross Kingwell, Wayne Pluske, Bill Bowden, Mike Collins, Frances Hoyle, D. V. Murphy, N. Milton, M. Osman, L. K. Abbott, W. R. Cookson, S. Darmawanto, Bill Crabtree, Geoff Anderson, Darren Kidson, Ross Brennan, Nick Drew, Craig Scanlan, Lisa Sherriff, Bob French, Reg Lunt, Jeff Russell, Angie Roe, Ian Maling, Matthew Adams, George Yan, Mohammad Hamza, Glen Riethmuller, Wal Anderson, Angela Loi, Phil Nichols, Clinton Revell, David Ferris, Phil Ward, Andrea Hills, Sally-Anne Penny, David Hall, Michael Robertson, Don Gaydon, Tress Walmsley, Caroline Peek, Megan Abrahams, Paul Raper, Richard O'Donnell, Trevor Lacey, Meredith Fairbanks, David Tennant, Cameron Weeks, Richard Quinlan, Alexandra Edward, Chris Carter, Doug Hamilton, Peter Tozer, Renaye Horne, Tracey Gianatti, Paul Carmody, Ian Foster, Michele John, Ross George, Imma Farré, Ian Kininmonth, Dennis Van Gool, Neil Coles, Bill Porter, Louise Barton, Richard Harper, Peter Ritson, Tony Beck, Chris Mitchell, Michael Hill, Fiona Barker-Reid, Will Gates, Ken Wilson, Rob Baigent, Ian Galbally, Mick Meyer, Ian Weeks, Traci Griffin, D. Rodriguez, M. Probust, M. Meyers, D. Chen, A. Bennett, W. Strong, R. Nussey, I Galbally, M. Howden

Crop Updates

This session covers forty four papers from different authors:

PLENARY

1. 2005 Outlook, David Stephens and Nicola Telcik, Department of Agriculture

FERTILITY AND NUTRITION

2. The effect of higher nitrogen fertiliser prices on rotation and fertiliser strategies in cropping systems, Ross Kingwell, Department of Agriculture and University of Western Australia

3. Stubble management: The short and long term implications for crop nutrition and soil fertility, Wayne Pluske, Nutrient Management Systems and Bill Bowden, Department of Agriculture

4. Stubble management: The pros and cons of different methods, Bill Bowden, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia and Mike Collins, …

Variability Of Sea Ice Cover In The Chukchi Sea (Western Arctic Ocean) During The Holocene, Anne De Vernal, Claude Hillaire-Marcel, Dennis A. Darby

OES Faculty Publications

Dinocysts from cores collected in the Chukchi Sea from the shelf edge to the lower slope were used to reconstruct changes in sea surface conditions and sea ice cover using modern analogue techniques. Holocene sequences have been recovered in a down-slope core (B15: 2135 m, 75°44'N, sedimentation rate of ~1cm kyr-¹) and in a shelf core (P1: 201 m, 73°41'N, sedimentation rate of ~22 cm kyr^-1). The shelf record spanning about 8000 years suggests high-frequency centennial oscillations of sea surface conditions and a significant reduction of the sea ice at circa 6000 and 2500 calendar (cal) …

Long-Term Freshwater Input And Sediment Load From Three Tributaries To Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Kangsheng Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lake Pontchartrain and the drainage basin have experienced environmental degradation because of human settlement, land use and climate changes. A thorough understanding of hydrologic trends and variability associated with the changes is critical for sustainable water resources management and ecosystem restoration in the region. This study examined freshwater inflow (1940-2002) and suspended solids loadings (1978-2001) from three upper Lake Pontchartrain watersheds that contribute to the lake estuary: the Amite, Tickfaw, and Tangipahoa river watersheds. The relationships of freshwater inflow and suspended solids loadings with climate variables and population growth were investigated. Using observed daily discharge, a spatially-distributed hydrologic model (SWAT) …