HR: 0800h
AN: H51C-1148    [Abstracts]
TI: Modeling Ecologic and Geomorphic Change in Semi-Arid New Mexico
AU: * Collins, D B
EM: daniel_@mit.edu
AF: Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 United States
AU: Bras, R L
EM: rlbras@mit.edu
AF: Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 United States
AB: A record of grazing, fire suppression and drought in the semi-arid American south-west since the 1800s has left a mark on the landscape. In the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, pinyon-juniper woodlands have expanded at the expense of ponderosa pine forest, giving rise to increased erosion rates - a concern to the sustainability of the soil resource and of vegetation. Soil loss also risks human exposure to contaminants from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The dynamics of this water-controlled environment arise from the complex interplay of climate, hydrology, ecology and geomorphology, an understanding of which is fundamental to solution of the environmental challenges. In an effort to predict the course of ecological and geomorphic change in the region, and to provide a tool for land-use planners in averting possible human health and environmental hazards, a numerical landscape evolution model is developed. It assimilates research encompassing plant physiology, ecology, hydrology, and geomorphology, highlights weaknesses in process understanding, and provides a prediction of the future environmental state on the time-scale of 100s of years.
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1815 Erosion and sedimentation
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
DE: 1851 Plant ecology
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting