Second Annual Symposium

 

Recent research at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER)
 

 

University of Arizona, Tucson, Marley Building, Rm. 230 [MAP]
Saturday, 8 October 2005, 9AM to 2:30PM

View the Symposium Program Word Format Acrobat Format

We would like to announce the second annual Research Insights in Semiarid Ecosystems (RISE) Symposium.  The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of scientific research at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), to encourage future research activities at the WGEW and the SRER, and to promote the WGEW and the SRER as outdoor scientific laboratories.

The Symposium will feature invited speakers presenting either recent research on the WGEW or SRER or new reflections on earlier work conducted at either site.  There will be time for questions from the audience, which will be made up of federal agency and university researchers, students, and stakeholders from southern Arizona. 

There will also be poster sessions where students and researchers are encouraged to report on completed or in-progress studies.  Abstract submission deadline for poster presentation is 16 September 2005.

8:30-9:00	Registration
9:00-9:10	Mitch McClaran and Susan Moran	RISE Welcome
9:10-9:30	Pierre Deviche, Thomas Small, Peter Sharp, and Kazuyoshi Tsutsui, ASU SLS, RIS, HUJ	Reproductive adaptations of Sonoran desert passerine birds to irregular precipitation patterns: A story of constraints and flexibility
9:30-9:50	Heather Throop and Steve Archer UA SNR	Land management and soil carbon pools: patterns and processes
9:50-10:10	Dave Womack and Dan Robinett USDA NRCS	Rangeland health, state and transition models and site descriptions for sandyloam, deep ecological site in Southern Arizona
10:10-10:30	Debra Peters, Kris Havstad, Jin Yao, and Bob Gibbens USDA ARS JER	Long term vegetation change at the Jornada: importance of spatial processes and landscape context
10:30-11:00	Poster introductions	Poster teasers provided by poster authors
11:00-1:00	Poster Session	Authors will be with their posters in the hall outside the conference room
P1	M. Nichols and C. Shipek	Geomorphic change along the Walnut Gulch Channel
P2	B. Yuill, M. Nichols, M. Schmeeckle	Mapping Bed Texture Evolution to Explain Variations in Observed Sediment Transport
P3	M. Nearing, A. Kimoto, M. Nichols and J. Ritchie	Spatial patterns of soil erosion and deposition in two small, semiarid watersheds
P4	R. Bryant and D. Goodrich	LIDAR resolution, vegetation filters and preservation of topographic discontinuities
P5	J. Finely, D. Sammataro, P. Segura and G. Wardell	Field Testing Protein Supplements for Strengthening European Honey Bee Colonies
P6	T. Small	Rapid reproductive response of male Rufous-winged Sparrows to increased rainfall: a role for termites?
P7	M. McClaran D. Martens, and S. Marsh	Organic carbon stocks in relation to grass, mesquite, and land use in the Desert Grassland
P8	B. Collins, M. Pavao-Zuckerman and T. Huxman	The Effects of a Temporal Belowground Resident, Manduca sexta, on Soil Microbial Communities, Soil Nutrients, and Plant Growth
P9	D. Ignace, E. Yepez-Gonzalez, J. Cable, M. Mason, A. Eilts, J. Weltzin, D. Williams and T. Huxman	The role of a native and non-native grass species in ecosystem CO2 and H2O exchange across two contrasting soil surfaces
P10	J. Cable, D. Potts, R. Scott, M. Pavao-Zuckerman, D. Williams, D. Goodrich and T. Huxman	Controls on ecosystem respiration in a semi-arid watershed: seasonality and woody plant encroachment
P11	M. Pavao-Zuckerman, J. Cable, E. Yepez, D. Potts, T. Huxman, and D. Williams	Mesquite cover mediates soil community structure response to precipitation pulses
P12	J. Eilts, T. Huxman, D. Williams and J. Weltzin	Density dependant competition for water between exotic and native grass species.
P13	C. Huang, S. Marsh, M. McClaran, and S. Archer	Cover-biomass relationships in woody plants: effects of fire and implications for remote sensing
P14	A. Tyler, G. Barron-Gafford, J. Bronstein, G. Davidowitz and T. Huxman	Selfing reduces photosynthetic function in Datura wrightii (Solanaceae)
P15	J. Graber, J. Bronstein, G. Davidowitz, T. Huxman and R. Alarcon	Summer flowering phenology in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains
P16	H.J. Kim, A.R. Huete, P. Nagler, E. Glenn, W. Emmerich, R.L. Scott	Monitoring Riparian and Semi-Arid Upland Vegetation Using Vegetation and Water Indices from the MODIS Satellite Sensor
12:00-1:00	Lunch w/ Posters	Provided by RISE
1:00-1:20	Neil Cobb, Amy Whipple, Tom Whitham, Bruce Hungate, and Jane Marks NAU MPCER	The importance of the greater Grand Canyon-Peaks ecosystem for the Arizona Ecological Transect
1:20-1:40	David Thoma, Susan Moran, Ross Bryant, Magfur Rahman, Chandra Holifield-Collins, and Susan Skirvin USDA ARS SWRC	Lessons learned from mapping soil moisture with radar remote sensing at WGEW
1:40-2:00	Bill Emmerich USDA ARS SWRC	Shrub and grass land ecosystem water use efficiency on the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed
2:00-2:20	Waite Osterkamp and Scott Miller USGS & U. Wyoming	A synopsis of geologic and geomorphic studies in the Walnut Gulch Watershed, southeast Arizona
2:20-2:30	Discussion	All speakers and poster authors will be in attendance

Qualified attendees will receive six Continuing Education Units toward their Certified Professional in Rangeland Management requirements.

RISE Organizing Committee: Mark Heitlinger, Mitch McClaran, Susan Moran markh@Ag.arizona.edu mcclaran@u.arizona.edu smoran@tucson.ars.ag.gov

Acronyms: ARS: Agricultural Research Service ASU: Arizona State University HUJ: Hiroshima Univ., Japan. JER: Jornada Experimental Range MPCER: Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research NAU:  Northern Arizona University NRCS:  Natural Resources Conservation Service RIS: Roslin Institute, Scotland SLS: School of Life Sciences SNR: School of Natural Resources SWRC: Southwest Watershed Research Center UA: University of Arizona