*Third Annual Symposium*

[RISE]{.underline}

[R]{.underline}esearch [I]{.underline}nsights in

[S]{.underline}emiarid [E]{.underline}cosystems

Recent research at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed
(WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range
(SRER)

![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.124305555555556in"
height="2.5520833333333335in"}

RISE Program

 

**University of Arizona, Tucson, Marley Building, Rm. 230**

**Saturday, 7 October 2006, 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM**

**Lunch and Poster Session, 11:00-1:00 PM**

**Registration Fee: \$7 Students; \$20 All Other (includes lunch)**

** **

Purpose:  The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of
scientific research at WGEW and SRER, to encourage future research
activities at the WGEW and the SRER, and to promote the WGEW and the
SRER as outdoor scientific laboratories.

+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| *      |                 |                                          |
| *3^rd^ |                 |                                          |
| RISE   |                 |                                          |
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|        |                 |                                          |
| #####  |                 |                                          |
| ### 7  |                 |                                          |
| Octobe |                 |                                          |
| r 2006 |                 |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
|        |                 |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| ## M   |                 |                                          |
| arley  |                 |                                          |
| Buildi |                 |                                          |
| ng, Ro |                 |                                          |
| om 230 |                 |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
|        |                 |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 8:3    | # Registration  |                                          |
| 0-9:00 |                 |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 9:0    | # Mit           | RISE Welcome                             |
| 0-9:10 | ch McClaran and |                                          |
|        |                 |                                          |
|        | # Susan Moran   |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 9:1    | **Travis        | #######                                  |
| 0-9:30 | Huxman**        |  Ecosystem response to precipitation pul |
|        |                 | ses on the Santa Rita Experimental Range |
|        | **UA EEB**      |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 9:3    | **Jeannie       | ####### Rangeland management pract       |
| 0-9:50 | McLain**        | ices alter trace gas (CO2, N2O, CH4) flu |
|        |                 | xes at the Santa Rita Experimental Range |
|        | **USDA ARS      |                                          |
|        | ALARC**         |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 9:50   | **George        | Developing, Implementing and Monitoring  |
| -10:10 | Ruyle**         | an Adaptive Management Grazing Plan for  |
|        |                 | the Santa Rita Experimental Range        |
|        | **UA SNR**      |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 10:10  | **Tim Keefer**  | Comparing two types of weighing          |
| -10:30 |                 | recording precipitation gauges on Walnut |
|        | **USDA ARS      | Gulch Experimental Watershed             |
|        | SWRC**          |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 10:30  | # Poste         | *Poster abstracts provided by poster     |
| -11:00 | r introductions | authors*                                 |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 11:0   | #               | ##                                       |
| 0-1:00 |  Poster Session | ##### Authors will be with their posters |
|        |                 |  in the hall outside the conference room |
|        | **(Accepting    |                                          |
|        | submissions)**  |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 12:0   | # L             | Provided at the meeting by RISE          |
| 0-1:00 | unch w/ Posters |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 1:0    | **Julio         | On-going research at the Desert          |
| 0-1:20 | Betancourt**    | Laboratory and opportunities for         |
|        |                 | collaboration                            |
|        | **USGS DL**     |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 1:2    | **David D.      | Wind and Water Erosion under Alternate   |
| 0-1:40 | Breshears, J.P. | Land Uses: Insights from Ongoing         |
|        | Field, C.B.     | Research at the Santa Rita Experimental  |
|        | Zou, and J.J.   | Range                                    |
|        | Whicker**       |                                          |
|        |                 |                                          |
|        | **UA SNR &      |                                          |
|        | LANL**          |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 1:4    | # Jeff Stone    | Hydrologic comparison of a brush and a   |
| 0-2:00 |                 | grass ecosystem at a range of scales at  |
|        | #####           | the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed  |
|        | # USDA ARS SWRC |                                          |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| 2:0    | # Discussion    | All speakers and poster authors will be  |
| 0-2:30 |                 | in attendance                            |
+--------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+

**Posters**

+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. Tewksbury,**   | Woody Debris in Desert Grasslands?         |
| 1 | **J. Root, C.       |                                            |
|   | Tewksbury, S.       |                                            |
|   | Archer and C.       |                                            |
|   | McMurtry**          |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. McDonald**     | Restoring Native Semi-Arid Grassland       |
| 2 |                     | Communities: Using Fire and Livestock      |
|   | **UA SNR**          | Grazing to Reduce the Abundance of the     |
|   |                     | Non-Native Lehmann Lovegrass               |
|   | ** **               |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **H. Throop, S.     | Relationships between aboveground woody    |
| 3 | Archer, C. McMurtry | biomass and soil organic carbon in a       |
|   | and M. McClaran**   | semi-desert grassland                      |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **S. Woods and M.   | Seedling establishment of woody plants:    |
| 4 | Lanning**           | the first step in encroachment             |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **A. Nafus, M.      | Allometric equations to estimate biomass   |
| 5 | McClaran and C.     | of perennial grasses                       |
|   | McMurtry**          |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **F. Mashiri, M.    | Comparing short and long-term effects of   |
| 6 | McClaran amd J.     | grazing systems, precipitation and         |
|   | Fehmi**             | mesquite on grass dynamics                 |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+

Posters (continued)

+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **S. Elliott**      | Relative roles of plant-animal             |
| 7 |                     | interactions for seedling recruitment in a |
|   | **Dartmouth         | water-limited environment                  |
|   | College**           |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. Huang, S.      | A top-down approach to understanding the   |
| 8 | Archer and S.       | biotic and abiotic characteristics of      |
|   | Marsh**             | stable semi-arid savanna ecosystems        |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **D. Browning and   | Spatial patterns and trends in woody plant |
| 9 | S. Archer**         | (Prosopis velutina) biomass under          |
|   |                     | contrasting grazing practices (1932 --     |
|   | **UA SNR**          | 2006)                                      |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. McMurtry, S.   | Estimating Prosopis velutina aboveground   |
| 1 | Archer, M.          | biomass: field and remote sensing          |
| 0 | McClaran, D.        | approaches                                 |
|   | Browning, and H.    |                                            |
|   | Throop**            |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **E. Courtright**,  | Rangeland Database and Field Data Entry    |
| 1 | **J. Herrick, B.    | System                                     |
| 1 | Lavine and J.       |                                            |
|   | Repp**              |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS JER**    |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **A. Laliberte, A.  | Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for        |
| 1 | Rango and A.        | Rangeland Remote Sensing                   |
| 2 | Slaughter**         |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS JER**    |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. Potenza, A.    | Use of Gene Specific primers to Identify   |
| 1 | Slaughter, I.       | Fungal Endophytes of Native Grasses        |
| 3 | Reyes, R. Sedillo,  |                                            |
|   | M. Lucero and J.    |                                            |
|   | Barrow**            |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS JER**    |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **D. Peters and C.  | Trends in Long-Term Ecological Data: a     |
| 1 | Laney**             | multi-agency synthesis project             |
| 4 |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS JER**    |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **W. Cable and R.   | Quantifying the hydrological significance  |
| 1 | Scott**             | of tree hydraulic redistribution in a      |
| 5 |                     | savanna ecosystem.                         |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **M. Nichols, K.    | The use of rock check dams as a            |
| 1 | McReynolds and C.   | conservation practice in Southeastern      |
| 6 | Reed**              | Arizona                                    |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **J. Field, D.      | Wind and Water Erosion: Competing          |
| 1 | Breshears, C. Zou   | Processes on the Santa Rita Experiment     |
| 7 | and J. Whicker**    | Range                                      |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **E. vanderLeeuw**, | Two Types of Residential Developments and  |
| 1 | **M. McClaran, S.   | their Impacts on the Santa Rita            |
| 8 | Marsh, C. Wissler   | Experimental Range                         |
|   | and W. van          |                                            |
|   | Leeuwen**           |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **UA SNR**          |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. Boodleman, D.  | Near ground solar radiation as a function  |
| 1 | Breshears and C.    | of woody canopy cover: Testing initial     |
| 9 | Zou**               | predictions and trends in mean and         |
|   |                     | variance in the Santa Rita Experimental    |
|   | **UA SNR**          | Range                                      |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **M. Nearing, A.    | Spatial patterns of soil erosion and       |
| 2 | Kimoto, M. Nichols  | deposition in two small, semiarid          |
| 0 | and J. Ritchie**    | watersheds                                 |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **C. Shipek and M.  | Channel Response to Changes in the Runoff  |
| 2 | Nichols**           | Regime along the Walnut Gulch Channel      |
| 1 |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+

Posters (continued)

+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **J. Buono and J.   | Variation in Overland Flow Velocity: A     |
| 2 | Stone**             | Shrub Grass Comparison from Southern       |
| 2 |                     | Arizona                                    |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **S. Burns, S.      | Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment  |
| 2 | Scott, D. Goodrich, | (AGWA): A GIS-based Hydrologic Modeling    |
| 3 | M. Hernandez, L.    | Tool for Watershed Management and          |
|   | Levick, A. Cate, W. | Landscape Assessment                       |
|   | Kepner, D. Semmens, |                                            |
|   | S. Miller, P.       |                                            |
|   | Guertin**           |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA-ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| P | **S. Moran, R.      | Partitioning Evapotranspiration in         |
| 2 | Scott, T. Keefer,   | Semiarid Grassland and Shrubland           |
| 4 | G. Paige, W.        | Ecosystems Using Diurnal Surface           |
|   | Emmerich, M. Cosh   | Temperature Variation                      |
|   | and P. O'Neill**    |                                            |
|   |                     |                                            |
|   | **USDA ARS SWRC**   |                                            |
+---+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| **RISE Organizing            | # Acronyms:                           |
| Committee:**                 |                                       |
|                              | ALARC: Arid-Land Agricultural         |
| Mark Heitlinger, Mitch       | Research Center                       |
| McClaran, Susan Moran        |                                       |
|                              | ARS: Agricultural Research Service    |
| <markh@Ag.arizona.edu>       |                                       |
|                              | DL: Desert Laboratory                 |
| <mcclaran@u.arizona.edu>     |                                       |
|                              | LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratory  |
| <smoran@tucson.ars.ag.gov>   |                                       |
|                              | SNR: School of Natural Resources      |
|                              |                                       |
|                              | SWRC: Southwest Watershed Research    |
|                              | Center                                |
|                              |                                       |
|                              | UA: University of Arizona             |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------+