Browsing by Author "Carlson, Samuel P."
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Quantifying Watershed Storage Dynamics using long duration high frequency measurements of Precipitation, Runoff, and Evapotranspiration(2013-03) Carlson, Samuel P.; McGlynn, BrianUnderstanding mountain water storage and redistribution is critical to understanding water availability. Climate change has the potential to change these important storage and redistribution dynamics. Previous studies have estimated watershed storage, but all have relied on modeled evapotranspiration (ET) for calculation. Vegetation and landscape heterogeneity make modeling of ET complex and imprecise. In this study we propose to calculate dynamic catchment water storage using a water balance approach. We will utilize ET measured on an eddy flux covariance tower located in the Stringer Creek watershed in the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest. Measured ET will be combined with measured precipitation (P) and runoff (Q) to calculate ΔS, using the mass balance equation ΔS = P - (Q + ET). We will then compute the relative amount of water stored in the watershed through time via a data based direct observation approach further corroborated by data from soil moisture probes, groundwater wells, and data from a novel COSMOS neutron scattering sensor, to find the absolute amount of water stored in the watershed (S) through time. Comparisons made between S, ET, and Q measurements will elucidate the relative influences of vegetation and soil water redistribution on Q and changes in watershed S across time. This study seeks new insights into the interplay between vegetation and soil water redistribution and their influence on catchment scale water budgets. This will provide a better understanding of factors affecting water availability in the Rocky Mountain West and for the first time accurately calculate watershed scale storage - discharge relationships and storage - ET relationships.Item Toward spatio-temporal delineation of positive interactions in ecology(2020-09) Tumolo, Benjamin B.; Calle, Leonardo; Anderson, Heidi E.; Briggs, Michelle A.; Carlson, Samuel P.; MacDonald, Michael J.; Reinert, James Holden; Albertson, Lindsey K.Given unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss, there is an urgency to better understand the ecological consequences of interactions among organisms that may lost or altered. Positive interactions among organisms of the same or different species that directly or indirectly improve performance of at least one participant can structure populations and communities and control ecosystem process. However, we are still in need of synthetic approaches to better understand how positive interactions scale spatio-temporally across a range of taxa and ecosystems. Here, we synthesize two complementary approaches to more rigorously describe positive interactions and their consequences among organisms, across taxa, and over spatio-temporal scales. In the first approach, which we call the mechanistic approach, we make a distinction between two principal mechanisms of facilitation—habitat modification and resource modification. Considering the differences in these two mechanisms is critical because it delineates the potential spatio-temporal bounds over which a positive interaction can occur. We offer guidance on improved sampling regimes for quantification of these mechanistic interactions and their consequences. Second, we present a trait-based approach in which traits of facilitators or traits of beneficiaries can modulate their magnitude of effect or how they respond to either of the positive interaction mechanisms, respectively. Therefore, both approaches can be integrated together by quantifying the degree to which a focal facilitator's or beneficiary's traits explain the magnitude of a positive effect in space and time. Furthermore, we demonstrate how field measurements and analytical techniques can be used to collect and analyze data to test the predictions presented herein. We conclude by discussing how these approaches can be applied to contemporary challenges in ecology, such as conservation and restoration and suggest avenues for future research.