THE REGIONAL RESPONSE OF DESERT WETLANDS TO ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen B. Springer ◽  
◽  
Jeffrey S. Pigati ◽  
Jeffrey S. Pigati ◽  
Craig R. Manker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Desert Wetlands

THE HYDROLOGIC RESPONSE OF DESERT WETLANDS TO ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERTS

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen B. Springer ◽  
◽  
Jeffrey S. Pigati ◽  
Shannon A. Mahan ◽  
Jordon Bright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Desert Wetlands

scholarly journals Natural resource mitigation, adaptation and research needs related to climate change in the Great Basin and Mojave Desert

2011 ◽  
pp. i-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra L. Hughson ◽  
David E. Busch ◽  
Scott Davis ◽  
Sean P. Finn ◽  
Steve Caicco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Research Needs

scholarly journals Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (47) ◽  
pp. 14522-14526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen B. Springer ◽  
Craig R. Manker ◽  
Jeffrey S. Pigati
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Las Vegas ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Climatic Oscillations ◽  
Las Vegas Valley ◽  
Desert Wetlands ◽  
Geologic Record

Desert wetlands are keystone ecosystems in arid environments and are preserved in the geologic record as groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits. GWD deposits are inherently discontinuous and stratigraphically complex, which has limited our understanding of how desert wetlands responded to past episodes of rapid climate change. Previous studies have shown that wetlands responded to climate change on glacial to interglacial timescales, but their sensitivity to short-lived climate perturbations is largely unknown. Here, we show that GWD deposits in the Las Vegas Valley (southern Nevada, United States) provide a detailed and nearly complete record of dynamic hydrologic changes during the past 35 ka (thousands of calibrated 14C years before present), including cycles of wetland expansion and contraction that correlate tightly with climatic oscillations recorded in the Greenland ice cores. Cessation of discharge associated with rapid warming events resulted in the collapse of entire wetland systems in the Las Vegas Valley at multiple times during the late Quaternary. On average, drought-like conditions, as recorded by widespread erosion and the formation of desert soils, lasted for a few centuries. This record illustrates the vulnerability of desert wetland flora and fauna to abrupt climate change. It also shows that GWD deposits can be used to reconstruct paleohydrologic conditions at millennial to submillennial timescales and informs conservation efforts aimed at protecting these fragile ecosystems in the face of anthropogenic warming.

Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA

2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Pigati ◽  
Kathleen B. Springer ◽  
Jeffrey S. Honke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Hydrologic Variability ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Wet And Dry Cycles

AbstractOne of the enduring questions in the field of paleohydrology is how quickly desert wetland ecosystems responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. Recent investigations in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada have revealed that wetlands expanded and contracted on millennial and sub-millennial timescales in response to changes in climate during the late Quaternary. Here, we evaluate geologic evidence from multiple localities in the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin that suggests the response of wetland systems to climate change is even faster, occurring at centennial, and possibly decadal, timescales. Paleowetland deposits at Dove Springs Wash, Mesquite Springs, and Little Dixie Wash, California, contain evidence of multiple wet and dry cycles in the form of organic-rich black mats, representing periods of past groundwater discharge and wet conditions, interbedded with colluvial, alluvial, and aeolian sediments, each representing dry conditions. Many of these wet-dry cycles date to within the Younger Dryas (YD) chronozone (12.9–11.7 ka), marking the first timeintra-YD hydrologic variability has been documented in paleowetland deposits. Our results illustrate that desert wetland ecosystems are exceptionally sensitive to climate change and respond to climatic perturbations on timescales that are relevant to human society.

Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change

2015 ◽  
Vol 387 ◽  
pp. 145-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Springer ◽  
Craig R. Manker ◽  
Jeffrey S. Pigati ◽  
Shannon A. Mahan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Dynamic Response ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Desert Wetlands
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