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Playas are shallow depressional wetlands and the dominant wetland type in the non-glaciated High Plains of the United States. This region is one of the most intensively cultivated regions in the Western Hemisphere, and playas are profoundly impacted by a variety of agricultural activities. Conservation practices promoted through Farm Bills by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that influence playas and surrounding catchments impact ecosystem functions and related services provided by wetlands in this region. As part of a national assessment, we review effects of agricultural cultivation and effectiveness of USDA conservation programs and practices on ecosystem functions and associated services of playas....
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Hydrologic budgets for depressional wetlands require estimates of runoff from watersheds. In the Southern High Plains, where there is little elevation relief, ground surveys provide accurate watershed estimates but are time-consuming and costly. Estimates can be derived at lower cost from DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) and topographical maps, but data resolution and interpretation introduces errors. Other computational methods provide alternatives for estimating watershed area. Two computational methods based on longitudinal distances and elevations are described; minimal distance method and weighted minimal distance method. Twenty playas were ground surveyed to obtain baseline estimates of watershed area. Watershed...
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The majority of the High Plains region is comprised of shortgrass prairie. Within this shortgrass prairie region playas are the dominant wetland type and hydrological feature. Playas are shallow depressional recharge wetlands each existing within their individual catchments. The High Plains is also one of the most intensively cultivated regions in the western hemisphere. Therefore playas are directly influenced by agricultural practices and USDA conservation programs. The primary ecosystem services provided by playas include biotic habitat flood-water storage and
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More than 25,000 playa wetlands are embedded in the Southern High Plains (SHP), USA. The SHP is one of the most intensively cultivated areas in the world and, as a result, the function of playas has been altered by deposition of eroded sediments. We monitored water levels in 33 playas in summer 2003 to examine the influence of land use (cropland vs. native grassland) and playa characteristics (playa area, watershed size, starting water level, volume loss, sediment depth, percent playa vegetation cover, and soil texture zone) on water loss rate and hydroperiod (consecutive days a playa held measurable surface water). Multiple regression models (selected using Akaike’s Information Criterion) indicated that land use,...
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Playa wetlands are the major habitat for amphibians in the Southern Great Plains, USA.... | Article from Copeia June 4, 2008
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Fungicide use on row crops is increasing dramatically due to promotion of these products for general plant health and increased yield even during low disease pressure. These fungicides are applied aerially, which may lead to amphibian exposure within fields or in nearby habitat. Exposure to three of these fungicides at environmentally relevant conditions resulted in mortality for Bufo tadpoles and juveniles for two of the fungicides. Headline®, the most commonly used on row crops, resulted in >50% mortality for juveniles at corn label application rates and 100% mortality for tadpoles at one-tenth the label rate for corn. Stratego® killed 40% of exposed tadpoles on average at the corn label rate, but only 7% of the...
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1. Hydroperiod, wetland size and land use of watersheds surrounding wetlands have important individual influences on plant communities in wetlands. Our objectives were to determine the effect and relative importance of local and landscape factors on plant species richness, diversity and composition of different functional groups (i.e. total, wetland-dependent, perennial, annual and exotic species) in recently inundated playa wetlands.2. We surveyed plant communities in 80 wet playas in the Southern High Plains, USA, and measured local factors: water depth, playa volume loss, sediment depth and playa area. We included landscape variables within 3 km: number of playas, edge density, percentage urban area and percentage...
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Larval amphibians reach high densities in playa wetlands in the Southern Great Plains (SGP), USA, and thus may influence the entire structure and function of these ecosystems. We investigated whether both carnivorous and omnivorous morphotypes of Spadefoot Toad tadpoles (New Mexico Spadefoot, Spea multiplicata (Cope, 1863), and Plains Spadefoot, Spea bombifrons (Cope, 1863)) would exhibit a macrophagous feeding behavior that would allow them to occupy several trophic levels in playas. We also compared tadpole diets and foregut widths as influenced by the land use surrounding playas (cultivated versus grassland watersheds), year (dry versus wet year), and body size (snout-to-vent length). Tadpole diets were dominated...
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Pesticide toxicity is often proposed as a contributing factor to the world-wide decline of amphibian populations. We assessed acute toxicity (48 h) of a glufosinate-based herbicide (Ignite 280 SL) and several glyphosate-based herbicide formulations (Roundup WeatherMAX, Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate, Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Ready-To-Use Plus on two species of amphibians housed on soil or moist paper towels. Survival of juvenile Great Plains toads (Bufo cognatus) and New Mexico spadefoots (Spea multiplicata) was reduced by exposure to Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Ready-To-Use Plus on both substrates. Great Plains toad survival was also reduced by exposure to Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Super...
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Playa wetlands in the Southern High Plains provide services such as stormwater storage, groundwater recharge, and biodiversity provisioning. However, watershed erosion has negatively impacted these services. Previously, we demonstrated that water loss rate was influenced by land use variables such as watershed cultivation (tilled index) and playa volume loss (hydric soil defined wetland volume). Because non-anthropogenic water loss in playas is limited to evaporation, transpiration, and infiltration processes, our objective was to determine the impact of wetland vegetation characteristics and land use variables on water loss rate in playa wetlands. We recorded water levels of 70 playas through the summers of 2003...
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Polyphenism in larval amphibians has been related to several factors, including wetland hydroperiod, food availability, competition, and predation. Spadefoot toads (genus Spea Cope, 1866) often exhibit a trophic polyphenism by developing distinct carnivore and omnivore larval morphotypes. Using a multimodel selection approach, we investigated the influence of land use (cropland vs. grassland type) and differences in annual precipitation on morphotype expression in Plains spadefoot (Spea bombifrons (Cope, 1863)) and New Mexico spadefoot (Spea multiplicata (Cope, 1863)) toads in playas. We also examined the relative importance of tadpole density, tadpole age, water-loss stress, wetland size, density of larval mole...
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Zartman, R., W. Hudnall, K. Rainwater, L. M. Smith, and D. Gitz. 2008. Estimating High Plains Aquifer recharge: land use influences on playas. In Correa, A. C., M. F. Agnello, R. Todd, and R. Peterson, eds. Water in Arid and Semiarid Lands: Innovative Approaches and Informed Decision-Making; Proceedings 2006 International Conference. ICASALS Pub. 2008-1:123-127.
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Playa wetlands are critical habitat for wildlife in the Southern High Plains (SHP), a region dominated by agriculture. Little information on pesticide levels exists for playas, and thus we measured organochlorine pesticide concentrations in sediment and amphibians collected from playas in cropland and grassland watersheds. Heptachlor, alpha- and beta-BHC, gamma-chlordane, and dieldrin were detected in sediment and/or tissue samples, typically at or below 1 ng/g, dry weight. However, mean DDT and DDE reached 19.7 and 4.1 ng/g in sediments and 6.3 and 2.4 ng/g in tissues, respectively. Land use did not influence pesticide levels in sediment or amphibians.
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Pesticides have been implicated in widespread amphibian declines. We assessed acute and chronic toxicity of two widely used herbicides to larval New Mexico (Spea multiplicata) and Plains (S. bombifrons) spadefoots from cropland and native grassland playas. Roundup WeatherMAX (WM) toxicity estimates (48- and 216-h LC(50); 48-h LC(1)) for both species were similar to environmental concentrations expected from accidental overspray. Chronic (30-day) exposure to WM at predicted environmental concentrations (2.0 and 2.8 mg glyphosate acid equivalents/L) reduced survival of both species. Ignite 280 SL (IG) toxicity estimates (48-h LC(50) and LC(1)) for both species were above predicted environmental concentrations of 1.0...
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Historically, playas in the Southern High Plains (SHP) were identified by the presence of hydric soils. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun a reclassification and remapping of upland and depressional soils for the playa region of Texas. For eight counties in Texas, we compared the occurrence of playas, as indicated by soils designated as hydric in original soil surveys, to designations in remapped soil surveys. We estimate a 65% decrease in playa numbers and 50% decrease in area as defined by the presence of hydric soil. Anthropogenic impacts, resulting in an altered hydrology and masking of hydric soil are proposed as primary factors responsible for reduction in playa numbers. Other potential...
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Agricultural land use surrounding wetlands can influence various aspects of amphibian ecology. Amphibians inthe Southern Great Plains of North America exhibit altered demographics and body size in playa wetlands with cultivatedwatersheds compared to those in grassland watersheds. We identified metacercariae of the trematode Clinostomumattenuatum in dominant playa amphibians and therefore examined its prevalence between postmetamorphic individualsinhabiting wetlands in grassland and cultivated landscapes. During 1999 and 2000, 5,621 Bufo cognatus, 9,565 Ambystomatigrinum mavortium, and 49,373 Spea multiplicata captured at playa wetlands were examined for C. attenuatum metacercariae.In general, metacercariae prevalence...
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Playas are the primary habitats for amphibians in the Southern High Plains, USA. Spadefoot toads (Spea spp.) are the dominant amphibian species; their demographics, body size, and immunology have been altered in playas in cropland relative to native grassland landscapes. To further understand cultivation effects on spadefoots, we compared percent body lipids and fatty acid profiles of S. bombifrons and S. multiplicata among tadpoles, metamorphs, and post-metamorphic juveniles in cropland versus grassland playas. Generally, tadpoles of both species had lower percent lipids than metamorphs and juveniles. Percent lipids were influenced by cultivation only in S. multiplicata; tadpoles contained more lipids in cropland...
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