Northern Arizona University is awarded a grant to enhance opportunities for experimental and observational field research on climate change and the population and ecosystem impacts of climate change at the Merriam-Powell Research Station (MPRS). MPRS is jointly operated with The Arboretum at Flagstaff, where it is located. Improvements will: 1) make available common garden research space with water, 2) make data collection from weather stations on elevation gradient research sites more reliable, and 3) improve data collection from flux towers in three forest stands under different management treatments. Understanding climate change and what can be done to mitigate for climate change impacts is one of the major scientific challenges of our time. This is especially important in the American Southwest, which is currently 12 years into a record drought that is producing vegetation shifts among the most severe in North America. The project will enhance the infrastructure for climate change research at three multi-user research sites. The first site is a set of five research areas along an elevation gradient used for monitoring climate change impacts and for manipulative experiments. The second site is a set of three eddy flux tower sites that are being used to examine how forest management influences carbon balance. The third site is a set of common gardens to be used for climate change and restoration research. Common gardens will focus on the genetics of climate change (i.e., which genotypes and source populations do best), and the consequences of climate change for biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem function. Results from this research will be critical for management decisions for the regions large tracts of public land and will enhance outreach programming offered jointly by MPRS and The Arboretum. MPRS's ability to offer high quality undergraduate research experiences, such as the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program geared towards Tribal and Community Colleges, will be enhanced by these improvements. A course at NAU on "Climate Change Effects on Forest Ecology" will have distance learning and field experience components and will accommodate both educators pursuing masters degrees and undergraduates in the sciences. An undergraduate with strong interests in math and biology will receive continued training as an assistant on setting up data management systems to serve researchers.
" was completed in March of 2012. The purpose of this project was to provide resources needed for researchers, land managers, and the public to understand and cope with the effects of climate change on a semi-arid, high elevation environment. This funding enabled upgrades for five weather stations along an elevation gradient in northern Arizona. Weather station upgrades included installing new precipitation gauges which do a good job of handling the mix of rain, hail, and snow that occurs at these sites. The weather data are also now relayed to campus and displayed at a website in near real time. This award also funded the improvement of waterlines and water pumps to supply The Arboretum at Flagstaff and its research gardens. The Merriam-Powell Research Station is on the grounds of the Arboretum at Flagstaff and promotes the use of its garden and greenhouse facilities as well as promoting field research at the dispersed elevation gradient weather station sites. The weather data are available at the following websites: http://mprlsrvr1.bio.nau.edu:8080/ and www.mpcer.nau.edu/gradient/wx_data.php. Fifteen scientific publications have resulted from work involving the weather stations and the watering infrastructure at the Arboretum. The Drs. Hungate, Schwartz, and Koch and their research groups at Northern Arizona University have made extensive use of the data from these weather stations. In particular, they have used soil transplants, water manipulations, and the weather station data to examine the effects of climate change manipulations on greenhouse gas fluxes, carbon cycling, and plant and soil microbial communities responsible for nutrient cycling. Highlights of these studies include a recent paper in Nature Climate Change showing that while herbaceous plant communities realized a short-term (2 – 3 years) increase in productivity in a climate change treatment, productivity and diversity declined over the longer term (10 years). Courses at Northern Arizona University have also used weather station data in field-based learning activities. Increased propagation of native plants for three re-vegetation projects has been occurring since the installation of the new waterline and pump at The Arboretum at Flagstaff. These projects are funded by the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona State Forestry Division. These plants will be used for seed propagation to restore lands that have been devastated by fire and flood. A number of plant species are being grown in the horticulture center greenhouse and in the research greenhouse that are used for educational demonstrations on docent tours, which occur twice daily, and school group tours of children aged 5 through 14. These outreach programs are greatly enhanced by the presence of live plants and working greenhouses. This infrastructure has also contributed to a major new facility closely tied to The Arboretum and the Merriam-Powell Field Station, the new NSF/Northern Arizona University funded Southwest Experimental Garden Array ($2.5 million NSF MRI funds pust $1 million NAU funds) to develop an array of 10 common gardens along an elevational gradient to study the interaction of genetics and climate change. The infrastructure for propagation and watering will facilitate the SEGA as the Arboretum has been chosen as one of the 10 key sites on the array. Merriam-Powell and The Arboretum are featured and credited in a new public outreach documentary titled "A Thousand Invisible Cords: Connecting Genes to Ecosystems" featuring NAU’s Community Genetics/Climate Change Group. This NSF/NAU/Bureau of Reclamation/Merriam-Powell/Univ. of Tasmania funded documentary is scheduled for its premiere release on PBS stations in Arizona in June, followed by national and international release. It has already won 3 awards and is entered in numerous documentary film festivals. Field station infrastructure and common garden sites played a key role in this film.
