Multiproxy approaches to investigating paleoecology and paleohydrology in the Upper Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation USA

2020 ◽  
pp. SP507-2020-52
Author(s):  
Daigo Yamamura ◽  
Celina Suarez ◽  
Alan Titus ◽  
Hunter Manlove ◽  
Thea Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Seasonal Precipitation ◽  
Western Interior Seaway ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hydrologic System ◽  
Fossil Records ◽  
Local Hydrology

AbstractThe Late Campanian-aged Kaiparowits Formation (72.5-76.6 Ma) is a thick, fossiliferous fluvio-overbank-lacustrine complex deposited in south-central Utah. Host to one of the richest, most diverse Campanian terrestrial fossil records in North America, the physical environment of the Kaiparowits ecosystem, particularly the dynamics of the hydrologic system, remains obscure. In 2014, an extensive bonebed was found in a conglomeratic sandstone unit of fluvial origin, known as the Rainbows and Unicorns quarry. Isotopic compositions of serially sampled tooth enamel phosphate (δ18Op) from tyrannosaur teeth were analyzed to see if they held data that could clarify the paleohydrology of the Kaiparowits Formation. To assess a greater paleoecological context for the tyrannosaurs, the isotopic composition of their teeth was compared to other faunal elements, including the giant alligatoroid Deinosuchus, and turtles (Baenid, Gilmoremys, Neurankylus and Trionychid) from the same quarry. The δ18Ow calculated from tyrannosaur was low, suggesting isotopically-light high-altitude runoff strongly influenced local hydrology of the Kaiparowtis Formation. The seasonal change in δ18O of tyrannosaur drinking water ranged from -21.0 to -14.4 ‰ V-SMOW while δ18Ow calculated from turtles and crocodiles ranged between an average of -9.3 and -10.9‰ respectively. The seasonal precipitation pattern and temperature of the Kaiparowits Formation was then compared to analogue settings such as the monsoonal climate of Hanoi, Vietnam and Cuiaba, Brazil. While similarities exist between these sites, the unique configuration of the Sevier Mountains adjacent to the nearby Western Interior Seaway provide the unique setting for a complex paleohydrologic system that results in a wide range of δ18Ow as a result of cold seasonal precipitation at high elevation that runs off and mixes with local precipitation (-4.68 to -6.0‰) sourced from the WIS. This study demonstrates the importance of serial- and micro-sampling of multi-taxa comparisons for isotopic investigations of palaeohydrologic systems.

Is everything all right up there? A long-term interdisciplinary silvicultural systems project in a high elevation fir-spruce forest at Sicamous Creek, B.C.

1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Vyse
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Subalpine Fir ◽  
Engelmann Spruce ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wide Range

The Sicamous Creek Project was established as part of the British Columbia Provincial Silvicultural Systems program in 1990 to investigate the effects of clearcutting and other practices on a high elevation forested ecosystem. The objective is to provide the forestry community with information on the ecology of high elevation forests in the Southern Interior, and the probable responses to a wide range of disturbance. After a period of planning by a team of scientists and foresters from several agencies, a site in subalpine fir-Engelmann spruce forest at 1530 m to 1830 m elevation near the town of Sicamous in the south central interior of British Columbia was logged in the winter of 1994–95. A range of treatments was created by logging one third of the forest in 30 ha experimental units using a range of opening sizes (individual tree selection, 1/10 ha, 1 ha, and 10 ha) and a no-logging control. Within these experimental units, smaller areas (0.08 ha) have been treated to create a range of soil disturbance conditions (no disturbance, burning, complete organic soil removal, mounding). A wide range of studies has been conducted on the site by a team of scientists before and after treatment and those studies are continuing. The project is long-term, (at least 30 years), the main treatments are sufficiently large to have operational significance, and the supported studies are intended to be interdisciplinary in scientific method and scope. Support for the project is strong within the operational forestry community because information on logging costs, safety issues and snags, windthrow, bark beetle management, wildlife habitat and small streams has already been made available to them. Studies of stand structure and wildlife habitat suggest that in future much greater emphasis should be placed on the silviculture of fir than spruce. Key words: silviculture systems, clearcutting, opening size, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, long term research, interdisciplinary research

scholarly journals Quantifying Understory Complexity in Unmanaged Forests Using TLS and Identifying Some of Its Major Drivers

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1513
Author(s):  
Dominik Seidel ◽  
Peter Annighöfer ◽  
Christian Ammer ◽  
Martin Ehbrecht ◽  
Katharina Willim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Seasonal Precipitation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Precipitation And Temperature

The structural complexity of the understory layer of forests or shrub layer vegetation in open shrublands affects many ecosystem functions and services provided by these ecosystems. We investigated how the basal area of the overstory layer, annual and seasonal precipitation, annual mean temperature, as well as light availability affect the structural complexity of the understory layer along a gradient from closed forests to open shrubland with only scattered trees. Using terrestrial laser scanning data and the understory complexity index (UCI), we measured the structural complexity of sites across a wide range of precipitation and temperature, also covering a gradient in light availability and basal area. We found significant relationships between the UCI and tree basal area as well as canopy openness. Structural equation models (SEMs) confirmed significant direct effects of seasonal precipitation on the UCI without mediation through basal area or canopy openness. However, annual precipitation and temperature effects on the UCI are mediated through canopy openness and basal area, respectively. Understory complexity is, despite clear dependencies on the available light and overall stand density, significantly and directly driven by climatic parameters, particularly the amount of precipitation during the driest month.

Seasonal precipitation pattern analysis for decision support of agricultural irrigation management in Louisiana, USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 254 ◽  
pp. 106970
Author(s):  
Clement D. Sohoulande Djebou ◽  
Stacia Conger ◽  
Ariel A. Szogi ◽  
Kenneth C. Stone ◽  
Jerry H. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Pattern Analysis ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Agricultural Irrigation ◽  
Seasonal Precipitation

scholarly journals Analyzing the major drivers of NEE in a Mediterranean alpine shrubland

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 2601-2611 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Reverter ◽  
E. P. Sánchez-Cañete ◽  
V. Resco ◽  
P. Serrano-Ortiz ◽  
C. Oyonarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density ◽  
Photon Flux ◽  
Photon Flux Density ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Carbon Sequestration Potential ◽  
Sequestration Potential

Abstract. Two years of continuous measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using the eddy covariance technique were made over a Mediterranean alpine shrubland. This ecosystem was found to be a net source of CO2 (+ 52 ± 7 g C m−2 and + 48 ± 7 g C m−2 for 2007 and 2008) during the two-year study period. To understand the reasons underlying this net release of CO2 into the atmosphere, we analysed the drivers of seasonal variability in NEE over these two years. We observed that the soil water availability – driven by the precipitation pattern – and the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) are the key factors for understanding both the carbon sequestration potential and the duration of the photosynthetic period during the growing season. Finally, the effects of the self-heating correction to CO2 and H2O fluxes measured with the open-path infrared gas analyser were evaluated. Applying the correction turned the annual CO2 budget in 2007 from a sink (− 135 ± 7 g C m−2) to a source (+ 52 ± 7 g C m−2). The magnitude of this change is larger than reported previously and is shown to be due to the low air density and cold temperatures at this high elevation study site.

Meadow Invasion from High-Elevation Spruce-Fir Forest in South-Central New Mexico

1999 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 444 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Dyer ◽  
K. Evan Moffett
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
South Central

Empirical Prediction of Crustacean Zooplankton Biomass in Nutrient-Poor Canadian Shield Lakes

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 788-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Yan
Keyword(s):  
Total Phosphorus ◽  
Trophic State ◽  
Zooplankton Biomass ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Phosphorus Concentration ◽  
Trophic State Index ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Shield Lakes

A comparison of the predictive power of nine existing empirical zooplankton biomass models indicated that lake water phosphorus concentration may be a better predictor of zooplankton biomass in Canadian Shield lakes than phytoplankton biomass, chlorophyll a, midsummer epilimnetic temperature, mean surface water temperature, mean depth, and Carlson's trophic state index. To develop models specifically applicable to nutrient-poor Canadian Shield lakes, a variety of morphometric, chemical, and planktonic parameters were assessed for three consecutive years from 16 Canadian Shield lakes in south-central Ontario. Total nitrogen was the best univariate predictor of zooplankton biomass for data averaged over single ice-free seasons, but total phosphorus was the best predictor when data were averaged over the entire study period. Consideration of pH and maximum depth improved certain models. Total phosphorus is clearly a good predictor of (long-term) average zooplankton biomass in nutrient-poor lakes as it is in lakes exhibiting a wide range in trophic state.

Cold tolerance in rice varieties at different growth stages

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ye ◽  
S. Fukai ◽  
I. Godwin ◽  
R. Reinke ◽  
P. Snell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Cold Tolerance ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Temperature Tolerance ◽  
Seedling Stage ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Rice Varieties ◽  
Low Temperature Tolerance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Growth Stages

Low temperature is a common production constraint in rice cultivation in temperate zones and high-elevation environments, with the potential to affect growth and development from germination to grain filling. There is a wide range of genotype-based differences in cold tolerance among rice varieties, these differences often reflecting growth conditions in the place of origin, as well as breeding history. However, improving low temperature tolerance of varieties has been difficult, due to a lack of clarity of the genetic basis to low temperature tolerance for different growth stages of the rice plant. Seeds or plants of 17 rice varieties of different origins were exposed to low temperature during germination (15°C), seedling, booting, and flowering stages (18.5°C), to assess their cold tolerance at different growth stages. Low temperature at the germination stage reduced both the percentage and speed of germination. Varieties from China (B55, Banjiemang, and Lijianghegu) and Hungary (HSC55) were more tolerant of low temperature than other varieties. Most of the varieties showed moderate levels of low temperature tolerance during the seedling stage, the exceptions being some varieties from Australia (Pelde, YRL39, and YRM64) and Africa (WAB160 and WAB38), which were susceptible to low temperature at the seedling stage. Low temperature at booting and flowering stages reduced plant growth and caused a significant decline in spikelet fertility. Some varieties from China (B55, Bangjiemang, Lijiangheigu), Japan (Jyoudeki), the USA (M103, M104), and Australia (Quest) were tolerant or moderately tolerant, while the remaining varieties were susceptible or moderately susceptible to low temperature at booting and flowering stages. Three varieties from China (B55, Lijianghegu, Banjiemang) and one from Hungary (HSC55) showed consistent tolerance to low temperature at all growth stages. These varieties are potentially important gene donors for breeding and genetic studies. The cold tolerance of the 17 rice varieties assessed at different growth stages was correlated. Screening for cold tolerance during early growth stages can therefore potentially be an effective way for assessing cold tolerance in breeding programs.

Calibration Issues of Dual-Polarization Radar Measurements

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1138-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Ryzhkov ◽  
Scott E. Giangrande ◽  
Valery M. Melnikov ◽  
Terry J. Schuur
Keyword(s):  
High Elevation ◽  
Absolute Calibration ◽  
Dual Polarization ◽  
Light Rain ◽  
Weather Radars ◽  
Mechanical Constraints ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Temporal Averaging ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Self Consistency

Abstract Techniques for the absolute calibration of radar reflectivity Z and differential reflectivity ZDR measured with dual-polarization weather radars are examined herein. Calibration of Z is based on the idea of self-consistency among Z, ZDR, and the specific differential phase KDP in rain. Extensive spatial and temporal averaging is used to derive the average values of ZDR and KDP for each 1 dB step in Z. Such averaging substantially reduces the standard error of the KDP estimate so the technique can be used for a wide range of rain intensities, including light rain. In this paper, the performance of different consistency relations is analyzed and a new self-consistency methodology is suggested. The proposed scheme substantially reduces the impact of variability in the drop size distribution and raindrop shape on the quality of the Z calibration. The new calibration technique was tested on a large polarimetric dataset obtained during the Joint Polarization Experiment in Oklahoma and yielded an accuracy of Z calibration within 1 dB. Absolute calibration of ZDR is performed using solar measurements at orthogonal polarizations and polarimetric properties of natural targets like light rain and dry aggregated snow that are probed at high elevation angles. Because vertical sounding is prohibited for operational Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) radars because of mechanical constraints, the existing methodology for ZDR calibration is modified for nonzenith elevation angles. It is shown that the required 0.1–0.2-dB accuracy of the ZDR calibration is potentially achievable.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Values of Enset (Enseteventricosum) in The Socio-Cultural Life of Thegurage of South-Central Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eshettu Tesfaye Retta ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Drug Loading ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Staple Food ◽  
Food Crop ◽  
Banana Plant ◽  
Central Ethiopia ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wide Range

Enset (Enseteventricosum) is a traditional multi-purpose crop mainly used as a staple/co-staple food crop over 20 million people in Ethiopia. The Gurage are sedentary agricultural people of patrilineal persuasion who speak a Semetic language and inhabit in a sparsely fertile semi-mountainous regionin south-central Ethiopia. Enset, their staple food crop, commonly called the “false banana plant”, is produced in abundance by each Gurage homestead. The objective of this study was to document the socio-cultural values of enset plant among the Gurage. In this study, a qualitative methodological approach is employed in extracting information from different sources on the subject in question. The study relied mainly on primary and secondary sources.According to findings, three types of food, viz, Kocho(fermented product from scraped pseudo stem grafted corm), Bulla(dehydrated juice), and Amicho (boiled corm) can be prepared from enset. As a food crop, it has useful attributes such as foods can be stored for long time, grow in wide range of environments, produces high yield per unit area and tolerates drought. It has irreplaceable role as a feed for animals. Enset starch is found to have higher and widely used as a tablet binder and dis-integrant and also in pharmaceutical gelling, drug loading and release processes. Moreover, enset shows high genetic diversity within a population which in turn renders resilience and food security against the ever-changing environmental factors and land use dynamics.Enset is totally involved in every aspects of the daily social and ritual life of the Gurage, who, with other several tribes in southwest Ethiopia, form what has been termed “the EnsetCulture Complex Area”. From birth, when the umbilicus is tied off with a fiber drawn from enset fronds, the life of the Gurage is enmeshed with various uses of enset, not the least of which is nutritional.

scholarly journals Storage and routing of water in the deep critical zone of a snow dominated volcanic catchment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alissa White ◽  
Bryan Moravec ◽  
Jennifer McIntosh ◽  
Yaniv Olshansky ◽  
Ben Paras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Elevation ◽  
Critical Zone ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Fracture Density ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Ion Chemistry ◽  
Major Ion ◽  
Welded Tuff ◽  
Isotopic Analyses ◽  
Perched Aquifer

Abstract. This study combines major ion and isotope chemistry, age tracers, fracture density characterizations, and physical hydrology measurements to understand how the structure of the critical zone (CZ) influences its function, including water routing, storage, mean water residence times, and hydrologic response. In a high elevation rhyolitic tuff catchment in the Jemez River Basin Critical Zone Observatory (JRB-CZO) within the Valles Caldera National Preserve of northern New Mexico, a periodic precipitation pattern creates different hydrologic flow regimes during spring snowmelt, summer monsoon rain, and fall storms. Hydrometric, geochemical, and isotopic analyses of surface water and groundwater from distinct stores, most notably a perched aquifer in consolidated collapse breccia and deeper groundwater in a fractured tuff aquifer, enabled us to untangle the interactions of these groundwater stores and their contribution to streamflow across one complete water year. Despite seasonal differences in groundwater response due to water partitioning, major ion chemistry indicates that deep groundwater from the highly fractured site is more representative of groundwater contributing to streamflow across the entire water year. Additionally, comparison of streamflow and groundwater hydrographs indicates hydraulic connection between the fractured welded tuff aquifer and streamflow while the perched aquifer within the collapse breccia deposit does not show this same connection. Furthermore, analysis of age tracers and stable water isotopes indicates that groundwater is a mix of modern and older waters recharged from snowmelt and downhole neutron probe surveys suggest that water moves through the vadose zone both as vertical infiltration and subsurface lateral flow, depending on lithology. We find that in complex geologic terrain like that of the JRB-CZO, differences in CZ architecture of two hillslopes within a headwater catchment control water storage and routing through the subsurface and suggest that the perched aquifer does not contribute significantly to streams while deep fractured aquifers contribute most to streamflow.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document