 |
 | |
 | Determine
the annual evapotranspiration (ET) rates for native and non-native riparian plant
communities. | | Assess
the effect of regular flooding relative to long inter-flood intervals on annual
ET rates. | |
Evaluate
the inter-annual variability in ET. |
| Contribute
calibration parameters to the Middle Rio Grande water budget. |
| | | Annual rates of evapotranspiration
(ET) in native and non-native riparian forests along the Middle Rio Grande are
poorly known. In addition, the effects of flooding, or the removal of flooding
through flow regulation, on riparian ET also is not well understood. Riparian
restoration, through the reintroduction of the flood pulse and a return to native
vegetation, can be accomplished, but an accurate assessment of the ET balance
is required before large-scale use of these restoration tools can be employed.
Twelve study
plots have been established along the Middle Rio Grande to study riparian ET using
in situ micro-meteorological measurements, leaf area index (LAI measurements),
and remotely sensed data from Landsat satellite imagery. Funds from the Middle
Rio Grande Bosque Initiative have helped to equip four of these twelve sites with
25 m instrumentation towers (Campbell Scientific CSAT3) that monitor the three-dimensional
eddy covariance (micrometeorological measurements) of wind speed and vapor pressure,
providing half-hourly estimates of ET throughout the growing season. Two of the
four tower sites are each in cottonwood dominated and salt cedar dominated vegetation.
Two sites (one cottonwood dominated and one salt cedar dominated) have been chosen
where flooding does not regularly now occur (long inter-flood interval). The other
two sites (one cottonwood dominated and one salt cedar dominated) are located
where regular flooding still occurs (short inter-flood interval). 2001 represented
the second year of the cottonwood study and the third year of the salt cedar study.
| |  | |
Dr. Clifford N. Dahm
Department of Biology
University of New Mexico
167 Castetter Hall
Albuquerque, NM 87106
505-277-2850
cdahm@sevilleta.unm.edu |
| | |
 |
|
| Increased
scientific understanding of annual rates of ET and the effects of vegetation type
and flooding on ET. | | Increased
data to improve the regional water budget, which may assist improved water management
operations and restoration efforts. | | The
continuation of ongoing programs to both monitor ecosystem integrity and study
the ecological processes and biotic communities that characterize the Middle Rio
Grande ecosystem. | |
|
1998
- ongoing
:
Dahm, C. N., J. R. Cleverly,
J. E. Allred Coonrod, J. R. Thibault, D. E. McDonnell, and D. J. Gilroy. 2002.
Evapotranspiration at the land/water interface in a semi-arid drainage basin.
Freshwater Biology 47(4): 831-844. Cleverly, J. E.,
C. N. Dahm, J. R. Thibault, D. J. Gilroy, and J. E. Allred Coonrod. 2002. Seasonal
estimates of actual evapotranspiration from Tamarix ramosissima using 3-dimensional
eddy covariance. Journal of Arid Environments. (PDF 708 KB) University of New Mexico, Department of Biology
None
http://sevilleta.unm.edu/~cleverly/professional
http://sevilleta.unm.edu/~mcdonnel
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