Dryland Riparian Ecosystems in the American Southwest: Sensitivity and Resilience to Climatic Extremes

摘要

Drylands make up over 40% of the earth’s land surface (Noy-Meir 1973; Reynolds and others 2007). In these arid and semiarid landscapes, surface and subsurface water flows create mesic riparian environments (Kingsford 2006; Stromberg and Tellman 2009). Dryland riparian areas sustain water-limited plants and animals that cannot withstand upland conditions year-round, thereby supporting regional diversity (Sabo and others 2005; Lite and others 2005). Dryland rivers are also characterized by occasional large, high-intensity floods that rework the bed geomorphology and increase riparian heterogeneity. This combined variation in water availability and flood disturbance creates spatiotemporally complex and unique landscapes (Soykan and Sabo 2009; Soykan and others 2012).