This collaborative project between the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) and the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) will build five high-quality, long-term climate monitoring stations positioned along an elevational gradient on the eastern and western slopes of the Chiricahua Mountains. The data collected by these climate stations will be important both locally to scientists conducting research at the SWRS, and globally to scientists all over the world to observe both predicted changes in the distribution and abundance of plants and animals, as well as, the associated gradients in climate data. Climate change is predicted to be associated with changes in the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. Various climate models predict the most dramatic effects of climate change to be apparent along the slopes of the "Sky Islands" of southeast Arizona. However, climate monitoring stations are almost entirely lacking in this otherwise well-studied mountain range. Because of the wide diversity of habitats and organisms easily accessible in the areas surrounding the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS), the distributions and abundances of plants and animals of this area have been well studied for over five decades.
The SWRS is located in the Chiricahua Mountains, part of a unique complex of about 27 mountain ranges, the Madrean Archipelago/Sky Islands of the southwestern U.S. Much of the data collected by SWRS scientists already has had direct influence on the conservation and management of the Madrean Sky Island habitats and species. The high biodiversity of plants and animals of this diverse area insures that scientists will continue to be attracted to the SWRS for future and ongoing studies of the area?s biota. Installation of five climate stations, spanning the eastern and western slopes of the Chiricahua Mountains and an encompassing an elevational gradient from 1280 to 2743 m, will allow scientists to compare their ecological observations to this shared climate data and expand their questions to include new areas of ecology-climate interactions at different spatial scales. Access to local climate data by visiting scientists, students, and teachers will enhance virtually all research and educational activities at the SWRS. Partnership with the WRCC and its host institution DRI will expand the use of collected climate measurements to the academic, governmental, management, and private sectors. Physical geographers and atmospheric scientists building climate models will benefit from the data obtained along the elevational gradient of this sky island mountain. For more information about the Southwestern Research Station, visit their website at http://research.amnh.org/swrs/.
