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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414652
Research Project: Knowledge Systems and Tools to Increase the Resilience and Sustainablity of Western Rangeland Agriculture

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Insights from dust research at the Jornada Experimental Range

Author
item DHITAL, SAROJ - New Mexico State University
item Webb, Nicholas - Nick
item EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University
item OKIN, GREGORY - University Of California
item McCord, Sarah
item Bestelmeyer, Brandon

Submitted to: University of California at Davis, CADO Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2024
Publication Date: 5/16/2024
Citation: Dhital, S., Webb, N.P., Edwards, B.L., Okin, G.S., McCord, S.E., Bestelmeyer, B.T. 2024. Insights from dust research at the Jornada Experimental Range. University of California at Davis, CADO Symposium. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Jornada Experimental Range (JER) is a USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) lab in Las Cruces, New Mexico and manages a 300 square-mile fenced research area in the Chihuahuan Desert. The lab was established in 1912 and it is the most intensively studied and densely instrumented dryland research area in the world. Jornada scientists lead and facilitate a wide range of research, in multiple fields including geology, pedology, hydrology, microbial ecology, plant and wildlife ecology, weed science, animal science, atmospheric science, satellite, and ground sensor technology. Since its establishment, a large amount of aeolian dust-related research has been conducted by JER research scientists and collaborators from multiple research institutions across the world, supported in part by the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research program since 1982. With growing concern about the impacts of climate change and land use and land cover change on agroecosystems and communities across the Southwest, dust-related research has become a central theme over the last two decades. Recent dust research at the JER includes efforts to understand aeolian sediment transport processes, the relationship of sediment flux to vegetation change, and the impacts of wind erosion to agroecosystems and society. We are developing models and decision-support tools that enable rangeland managers to better assess and make data-informed decisions to improve soil conservation and air quality. Here, we present highlights of our current research streams that include coordinating the National Wind Erosion Research Network, parameterizing the AERO model using a GLUE approach to explicitly represent dust model uncertainty, predicting fine-scale (<100 m) PM10 and PM2.5 emissions west-wide using standardized big data collected by ecological monitoring programs, and using WRF-Chem and the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) to elucidate ecological and management controls on dust source area dynamics and predict dust-on-snow episodes. We will conclude by identifying our future research interests and opportunities for collaboration.