Montane Meadow Restoration: Quantifying the Impact of Biogeomorphic Change on Ecosystem Function
Abstract
Montane meadows are unique and complex biophysical systems that support productive and biodiverse ecosystems. Currently, about half of the ~113,000 ha of montane meadows in the Sierra Nevada are highly degraded from historical land-use changes. While healthy meadows maintain a high water table which sustains productive ecosystems, sequestering large amounts of carbon, degraded meadows result in incised channels, lowered water table and plant communities dominated by xeric species. Here we bring together an interdisciplinary group of scientists to evaluate the impact of contemporary restoration practices on the meadow system. We examine how biogeomorphic changes that result from active restoration impacts groundwater and surface water interactions, plant community composition, and ecosystem greenhouse gas exchange. Our research is taking place in Red Clover Valley, a ~1052 ha montane meadow located in the northeastern Sierra Nevada that is highly degraded due to previous land management practices. We will quantify the impacts of restoration on biogeochemical cycling by combining spatial analysis of multispectral imagery from satellite and drone platforms with ground observations of leaf and plot-level photosynthesis measurements and landscape-level measurements of net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 and CH 4 . These GHG flux measurements will be coupled with and related to groundwater level. We expect our research to provide: 1) an estimate of the carbon storage capacity of a meadow in transition from a degraded to restored state, 2) a process-based understanding of how the relative contribution of different plant species and communities relate to ecosystem-level carbon source and sink dynamics, and 3) spatially-explicit relationships between changes in hydrology and biogeochemistry that provide predictive power of the carbon storage capacity of other meadows in the region at various stages of health. Our work will contribute more broadly to a state-wide initiative to quantify carbon budgets in natural ecosystems as California develops science-based po licies to combat climate change.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMEP51E2145S
- Keywords:
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- 1824 Geomorphology: general;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1825 Geomorphology: fluvial;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1830 Groundwater/surface water interaction;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1856 River channels;
- HYDROLOGY