Mission 

Our mission is to develop new ways of measuring, understanding, and predicting the coupling of ecological and hydrological processes and associated non-linear and threshold responses in water-limited ecosystems along the grassland-forest continuum. We seek to enable improved decision making and management for issues of land use, pollution, and global change.
Jason, Dave and Ted in Santa Rita Experimental Range
Research Topics
	«Woody-herbaceous plant interactions and dynamics
	«Gradients of  woody vegetation: grassland/shrubland/woodland/forest
	«Scaling from vegetation patches to ecosystems
	«Ecohydrology: Ecological-hydrological relationships
	«Precipitation, soil water, and plant-available water
	«Redistribution of water and nutrients via runoff and erosion
	«Drought impacts on vegetation and erosion
	«Fire impacts on vegetation and erosion
	«Wind vs. water erosion
	«Soil carbon patterns and dynamics
	«Soil carbon measurement-Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
	«Quantifying and modeling spatial heterogeneity in environmental properties
	«Threshold changes in ecosystem properties
	«Biophysical scaling relationships
	«Global change impacts
	«Land use and management
	«Contaminant transport and containment / radioecology
	«Dryland ecosystems
Lab Personnel
Dr. David D. Breshears Professor and UA Theme Leader for Ecosystem Sciences Dr. Chris B.  Zou Senior Research Specialist Jason P. Field  Ph.D Student and USDA Ecohydrology Fellow  Juan C. Villegas  Ph.D Student and Fulbright Scholar  Haiyan Wei  Ph.D Student Henry Adams Ph.D Student and USDA Ecohydrology Fellow  Jennifer Davison MS Student and USDA Ecohydrology Fellow  Patrick Royer MS Student and USDA Ecohydrology Fellow
Job Resources ESA Physiological Ecology Job Listing | USDA ARS Job  |  SSSA Job Announcement | Canada Forestry Job | New Zealand | Australia CSIRO  Professional Tools  UA PowerPoint Template | ISPE Poster Guidance Affiliations & Collaborations NEON | COREO | DIREnet | SAHRA | CSIRO Atherton | LANL| Colorado State University | Wiley Award       Current & Previous Sponsors TRIF Arizona

 

New Publications:  

McDowell, N., W. T. Pockman, C. Allen, D. D. Breshears, N. Cobb, T. Kolb, J. Sperry, A. West, D. Williams, and E. A.Yepez. Tansley Review. Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: Why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought?  New Phytologist. in press 

Wei, H. M. A. Nearing, J. J. Stone, and D. D. Breshears.2008.  A Dual-Monte-Carlo approach to estimate model uncertainty: application to the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. in press.

Breshears, D. D., J. J. Whicker, J. P. Field, C. B. Zou, and C. D. Allen. 2008. A conceptual framework for dryland aeolian sediment transport along the grassland-forest continuum: effects of woody plant canopy cover and disturbance. Special Issue on Wind Erosion Measurements.  Geomorphology. in press. 

Rich, P.M., D. D. Breshears, and A. B. White.  2008.  Phenology of mixed woody-herbaceous ecosystems following extreme events: net and differential responses.  Special section on Phenology. Ecology. in press. 

Whicker, J. J., J. E. Pinder III, and D. D. Breshears. 2008.  Thinning semiarid forests amplifies wind erosion comparably to wildfire: restoration and soil stability.  Journal of Arid Environments. 72: 494-508.       

Kempes, C. P., D. D. Breshears, O. B. Meyers, and J. J. Ebersole.  2008.  Comparing response of Pinus edulis tree-ring growth to five alternate moisture indices using historical meteorological data.  Journal of Arid Environments. 72: 350-357.    

Villegas, J. C., C. Tobón,  and D. D. Breshears.  2008.  Fog interception by non-vascular epiphytes in Tropical Montane Cloud Forests:  dependencies on gauge type and meteorological conditions.  Hydrological Processes. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.6844.     

Breshears, D. D., N. G. McDowell, K. L. Goddard, K. E. Dayem, S. N. Martens, and C. W. Meyer and K. M. Brown.  2008.  Foliar absorption of intercepted rainfall improves plant water status and enables drought recovery. Ecology. 89:41-47.  

Breshears, D.D.  2008.  Structure and function of woodland mosaics: consequences of patch-scale heterogeneity and connectivity along the grassland-forest continuum.  In:  Western North American Juniperus Communities.  O. W. Van Auken, ed.  Ecological Studies Series.  Springer.

Zou, C. B., Greg A. Barron-Gafford, and David D. Breshears, 2007.  Effects of topography and woody plant canopy cover on near-ground solar radiation: relevant energy inputs for ecohydrology and hydropedology. Geophysical Research Letters. 34, L24S21, doi:10.1029/2007GL031484 

Betancourt, J. L. M.D. Schwartz, D. D. Breshears, C. A. Brewer, G. Frazer, J. E. Gross, S. J. Mazer, B. C. Reed, and B. E. Wilson . 2007. Evolving Plans for the USA National Phenology Network Eos, Vol. 88, No. 19, 8 May 2007

Climate Change:  Agencies Should Develop Guidance for Addressing the Effects on Federal Land and Water Resources. Complete Report ( GAO-07-863) | Highlights

Henry Adams and Juan Villegas appeared in the front-page story of Arizona Daily Star (August 29, 07) for their on-going studies in Biosphere 2, more details. Congratulations!

 

Western North American Juniperus Communities
A Dynamic Vegetation Type
Series: Ecological Studies , Vol. 196
Van Auken, Oscar (Ed.)

New Journal Ecohydrology, in which Dr Breshears serves as Associate Editor, is coming soon!

Heat Invades Cool Heights Over Arizona Desert   SUMMERHAVEN, Ariz. High above the desert floor, this little alpine town (has long served as a natural air-conditioned retreat for people in Tucson, one of the so-called sky islands of southern Arizona. When it is 105 degrees in the city, it is at least 20 degrees cooler up here near the 9,157-foot summit of Mount Lemmon. But for the past 10 years or so, things have been unraveling. Winter snows melt away earlier, longtime residents say, making for an erratic season at the nearby ski resort, the most southern in the nation. The increased heat, Dr. Breshears believes, is the tipping point — stressing ecosystems in the Southwest so quickly that they are vulnerable to prolonged beetle infestation and catastrophic fires..... Full Story | PDF

WSM 696: Personal Vision, Leadership and Communication Skills for Environmental Scientists

 National Phenology Network Office Coming to the UA   Over the past two years, Julio Betancourt (USGS and Adjunct Professor in Geosciences), David Breshears (UA School of Natural Resources) and other faculty at the UA have been collaborating with Mark Schwartz of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and about 100 other scientists to develop a dense network of repeatable seasonal observations on plants and animals across the US. (see details)

  At 2006 ISPEFest, Jason Field won an award to represent the Global Climate Change GIDP (Graduate Interdisciplinary Degree Program) in a Dec 7 GDIP Showcase meeting. Jason's poster will be presented there and President Shelton will award him a $500 check. Board of Regents and others have been invited to attend. The title of the poster is:"Simultaneous measures of competing erosion types: water-centric focus neglects potential importance of wind-driven soil transport", by Jason P Field, David D. Breshears, Chris P. Zou, and Jeffrey J. Whicker [Los Alamos National Lab].

    

Jason receiving award from UA President Shelton 

Recent awards:

• Jennifer Davison 2007 ISPEFest Poster Award 2nd Place

• Chris B. Zou  2007 Outstanding Staff in Research award for College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

• Juan Villegas 2007 International Development Research Centre, Canada. Financial assistance to attend the Fourth International Conference on Fog, Fog Collection and Dew. 

• Juan Villegas 2007 Water Sustainability Program. Student fellowship Award ($18,000)

• Jason P Field 2006  

• David D. Breshears 2006  School of Natural Resources Scholarly Achievement Award (video clip)

• Chris B. Zou  2006  Kel  Fox Presentation Award  2006

• Jason Field 2006  Kel Fox Award 2006 

•  & Jason Field 2006  ISPE Travel Awards 2006

Terrestrial Ecology Lab

228 Biological Science Building East

University of Arizona, 1311 E 4th Street, Tucson, AZ 85721

Ph: 520-621-7259

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