Sagebrush

Doctoral Research

Understanding carbon and water fluxes in a mountain big sagebrush burn chronosequence

Funding USDA

PIs: Elise Pendall and Brent Ewers

Students: Kusum Naithani and Megan Bayless

Summary:

Management strategies such as grazing intensity and burn frequency are likely to alter carbon and water fluxes at a landscape scale. This project aims to (1) partition the water balance into its components of soil water storage, evaporation and transpiration; 2) determine the link between carbon and water fluxes using stomatal controls, water use efficiency and stable isotopes; and 3) use plant ecophysiological and ecosystem models to extrapolate plot and ecosystem level measurements to landscape levels and explore the response of these ecosystems under different management regimes to projected global change.

Publications:

Presentations:

  • Ewers B. E., Mackay D. S., Pendall E., Frank J., Reed D., Massman W., Aston T., Angstmann J., Naithani K., Mitra B., & Norton U. Use of plant hydraulic theory to predict plant controls over mass and energy fluxes in response to changes in soils, elevation and mortality. The annual ESA meeting, Portland, OR, Aug. 5-10, 2012. Talk
  • Ewers B. E., Mackay D. S., Pendall E., Frank J., Reed D., Massman W., Aston T., Angstmann J., Naithani K., Mitra B., & Norton U. Use of plant hydraulic theory to predict plant controls over mass and energy fluxes in response to changes in species, soils, and mortality. The annual ASPB meeting. Austin, TX, USA. July 24-24, 2012. Talk
  • Cleary M. B., Pendall E., Ewers B. E., Naithani K. J., & Kwon H. Testing the drivers of and relationships between three scales of diurnal, seasonal, and successional carbon fluxes in sagebrush steppe. The 17th Wildland Shrub Symposium, Las Cruces, NM, USA. May 22-24, 2012. Poster
  • Pendall E., Cleary M. B., Naithani K. J., Ewers B. E., & Mitra B. Changes in sagebrush steppe C pools during succession following prescribed burning. The 17th Wildland Shrub Symposium, Las Cruces, NM, USA. May 22-24, 2012. Poster
  • Ewers B. E., Pendall E., Reed D., Barnard H., Whitehouse F., Frank J., Massman W., Brooks P., Biederman J., Naithani K., Mitra B., & Mackay D. S. Use of plant hydraulic theory to predict ecosystem fluxes across mountainous gradients in environmental controls and insect disturbances. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 5-9, 2011. Invited Talk
  • Ewers B. E., Pendall E., Reed D., Mitra B., Mackay D. S., Angstmann J., Naithani K., Barnard H., Aston T., Norton U., Williams D. G. & Sivanpillai R. Scaling plant water use from organs to ecosystems in semiarid shrub and forest ecosystems responding to drought and bark beetles. U. S. G. S. Modeling Conference. Denver, CO, USA. June 7-11, 2010. Talk
  • Mitra B., Mackay D. S., Cleary M. B., Naithani K., Kwon H., Pendall E. & Ewers B. E. Constraining a carbon - water flux model for a sagebrush ecosystem with multiple data sources. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 15-19, 2008. Poster
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Quantification of canopy stomatal conductance response to soil & atmospheric drought in a sagebrush steppe. The annual ESA meeting, Milwaukee, WI, USA. Aug. 3-8, 2008. Talk
  • Ewers B. E., Mackay D. S., Loranty M.M., Samanta S., Naithani K. & Mitra B. Improving models of plant transpiration in time and space by incorporating hydraulic controls over canopy stomatal conductance. The annual ESA meeting, Milwaukee, WI, USA. Aug. 3-8, 2008. Talk
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Bayesian approach for quantifying interactive effects of stand age, plant species and environmental drivers on biochemical parameters of photosynthesis. Joint meeting of the ASPB & the Sociedad Mexicana De Bioquimica Rama: Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular de Plantas, Merida, Mexico. June 26-July 1, 2008. Poster
  • Ewers B. E., Kwon H., Pendall E., Naithani K. & Cleary M. B. Dynamic responses and controlling factors of evapotranspiration in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem in North America. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 10-14, 2007. Talk
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Interaction of stand age and water availability on leaf gas exchange across a sagebrush fire chronosequence. The annual ESA Meeting, San Jose, CA, USA. Aug. 5-10, 2007. Talk
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Quantifying stomatal and non-stomatal limitation to carbon assimilation during succession in a sagebrush ecosystem. The annual ASPB meeting, Chicago, IL, USA. July 7-11, 2007. Poster
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Quantifying photochemical and biochemical parameters of photosynthesis across a sagebrush burn chronosequence and climatic gradients. Graduate Student Symposium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA. April 3-5, 2007. Talk
  • Pendall E., Cleary M. B., Kwon H., Ewers B. E. & Naithani K. Carbon storage and fluxes over a sagebrush burn chronosequence. The U.S. North American Carbon Program Investigators Meeting. Colorado Springs, CO, USA. Jan. 22-25, 2007. Talk
  • Kwon H., Pendall E., Ewers B. E., Bayless M. K. & Naithani K. Spring drought regulates summer net ecosystem CO2 exchange in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 11-15, 2006. Poster
  • Cleary M. B., Pendall E., Ewers B. E., Naithani K., Kwon H. & Thompson M. Responses of carbon and water cycling to prescribed burning in sagebrush steppe. USDA-NRI Managed Ecosystems Project Director's Meeting, The annual American Society of Agronomy meeting, Indianapolis, IN, USA. Nov. 12-16, 2006. Poster
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E. & Pendall E. Interactive effects of time since burn, plant species, and environmental conditions on leaf gas exchange in sagebrush steppe. The Biology of Transpiration: From Guard Cells to Globe, The regional ASPB meeting, Snowbird, UT, USA. Oct. 10-14, 2006. Poster
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E., Pendall E. & Bayless M. K. Species contribution to evapotranspiration in a fire chronosequence of sagebrush steppe. Graduate Student Symposium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA. April 3-5, 2006. Talk
  • Bayless M. K., Pendall E., Ewers B. E. & Naithani K. Allometric relationships for above- and below-ground biomass for sagebrush chronosequences in Wyoming. Graduate Student Symposium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA. April 3-5, 2006. Talk
  • Bayless M. K., Pendall E., Ewers B. E. & Naithani K. Biotic and abiotic drivers of soil respiration across a sagebrush fire chronosequence. The Front Range Student Ecology Symposium. CSU, Fort Collins, CO, USA. March 8, 2006. Poster
  • Naithani K., Ewers B. E., Pendall E. & Bayless M. K. Effect of succession after fire on species contribution to evapotranspiration in sagebrush steppe. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 5-9, 2005. Poster
  • Bayless M. K., Pendall E., Ewers B. E. & Naithani K. Biotic and abiotic drivers of soil respiration across a sagebrush steppe chronosequence. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 5-9, 2005. Poster
  • Kwon H., Pendall E., Ewers B. E., Bayless M. K. & Naithani K. Effects of succession on carbon and water fluxes from sagebrush steppe. The fall AGU meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA. Dec. 5-9, 2005. Poster
  • Pendall E., Ewers B. E., M. Bayless & Naithani K. Does time since burn affect C sequestration and water loss on sagebrush steppe? The U. S. Department of Agriculture Project Directors meeting for Sustainable Agriculture, Ecosystem Management, and Small-Midsized Farms Programs, Washington, D. C., USA. Oct. 2005 Talk
  • Ewers B. E., Pendall E., Bayless M. K. & Naithani K. Threshold and non-threshold responses to fire in sagebrush steppe ecosystems. Long Term Ecological Research science meeting. Virginia Beach, VA. Sept. 2005 Talk
  • Naithani K. Scaling water vapor flux of sagebrush chronosequence in Wyoming. Graduate Student Symposium, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY USA. April 3-5, 2005. Talk
  • Bayless M. K., Pendall E., Ewers B. E. & Naithani K. Scaling CO2 fluxes of a sagebrush chronosequence in Wyoming. Terrestrial Ecosystem Responses to Atmospheric and Climatic Change Meeting, Fort Myers, FL, USA. Jan. 11, 2005. Poster