In research published in the Monday's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team lead by Los Alamos scientist Paul Rich and former Los Alamos scientist David Breshears, now a professor in the University of Arizona's School of Natural Resources in Tucson, discovered that following fifteen months of extreme drought, vast numbers of the region's Pinus edulis (piñon pine) died during 2002 and 2003.
According to Rich, "This drought was harder on the piñons than the drought of the 1950s, and this appears to result from higher temperatures. Our research documents a big, fast change of vegetation in response to the drought. This is of concern because it is the kind of impact we expect to see more of as global warming progresses."
Breshears commented that "This type of big, fast dieoff produces many ecological changes, including how much carbon is held in the ecosystem, how much runoff and erosion occurs, and how hot the ground gets, as well as changes in the distribution of this important and widespread tree species."
The research was coordinated through the Drought Impacts on Regional Ecosystems Network (DIREnet), a National Science Foundation sponsored mechanisms designed to coordinate and foster scientific research collaborations on climate change.
Breshears and Rich's coauthors included Los Alamos scientists Randy Balice and Clifton Meyer, as well as Neil Cobb and Jesse Anderson from Northern Arizona University; Kevin Price and Jude Kastens of the University of Kansas; Craig Allen and Jayne Belnap of the U.S. Geological Survey; William Romme of Colorado State University; M. Lisa Floyd of Prescott College in Arizona; and Orrin Meyers of the University of New Mexico.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.