PI's: James Thorp 1, Bazartseren Boldgiv 2, Sudeep Chandra 3, Walter K. Dodds 4, Jon Gelhaus 5, Barbara Hayford 6, Olaff Jensen 7, Scott J. Kenner 8, Alain ...
Hierarchical Functioning of River Macrosystems in Temperate Steppes – From Continental to Hydrogeomorphic Patch Scales PI’s: James Thorp 1, Bazartseren Boldgiv 2, Sudeep Chandra 3, Walter K. Dodds 4, Jon Gelhaus 5, Barbara Hayford 6, Olaff Jensen 7, Scott J. Kenner 8, Alain Maasri 5, Mark Pyron 9 Post docs: Rachel Bowes 1, Flavia Tromboni 3 Students: Emily 1 University
Arsenault 1,
Caleb Artz
9,
John Costello
8,
Tsengel R. Dash 8, Bolortsetseg Erdenee 5, Greg Mathews 1, Mario Minder 9, Anne Schechner 4, Robert C. Shields 9
of Kansas; 2 National University of Mongolia; 3 University of Nevada, Reno; 4 Kansas State University; 5 The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University; 6 Wayne State University; 7 Rutgers University; 8 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; 9 Ball State University
Preliminary Results
Hypotheses - Hierarchical Scaling, system drivers, and cross-scale interactions are the same in similar ecoregions, in similar hydrogeomorphic zones (accounting for season and minimizing anthropogenic impacts)
HYDRO GEOMORPHOLOGY
- Ecoregions Macrosystem processes, drivers, and interactions, and both ecosystem function and biodiversity characteristics are more similar among ecoregions of the same type in different continents than they are among ecoregions of different types in the same continent
SYSTEM METABOLISM
Figure 1. Plots of substrate sizes by FPZ, the plots show the differences between FPZ types aTer aggrega@ng the Carson, Humboldt, and Bear sub-basins within the Great Basin region of the United States
Figure 2. Gross Primary Produc@vity of different FPZs in three rivers of a terminal basin in the American West
Figure 3. Ecosystem respira@on of different FPZs in three rivers of a terminal basin in the American West
Methods Figure 4. The reaera@on coefficient (K) in different FPZs for three rivers in the terminal basin of the American West
Figure 5. The distance upstream of 80% of the zone of influence for terminal basins in the American West
Figure 6. The rela@onship between the reaera@on coefficient (K) and the distance upstream of 80% of the zone of influence for three rivers in the terminal basin of the American West
MONGOLIA - YELLOWSTONE (DO-d18 OVSMOW (‰)
25,0 24,5 24,0 23,5
Upland constrained Mongolia
23,0
Lowland Wide Mongolia
22,5
Lowland wide Mongolia
22,0 21,5
Lowland Wide Wyoming
21,0
Lowland Wide Wyoming
20,5
Lowland Wide Wyoming
12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 1:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00
20,0
Figure 7. Rela@onship between GPP and ER for three rivers of the terminal basin of the American West. Line represents a 1:1 ra@o, so points below the line indicate net autotrophy, while points above the line indicate net heterotrophy
Figure 8. Diel DO-d18 changes in rivers from Mongolia and Wyoming and in different FPZs
FISHES
Temperate Steppe (US – Mongolia)
3 ecoregions per biome (mountain steppe shrublands, Tall Grasslands, Semi-Arid Shrublands)
Figure 9. Nonmetric Mul@dimensional Scaling of Wyoming fish assemblages by valley width. Fish assemblages in constrained and wide valleys were dis@nc@ve. Wyoming rivers contain mostly introduced species
Figure 10. Nonmetric Mul@dimensional Scaling of Mongolia fish assemblages by valley width. Fish assemblages in constrained and wide valleys were similar. We found no introduced species in Mongolian rivers
MACRO INVERTEBRATES
3 watersheds per ecoregion Mul@ple FPZs per river (upland and lowland wide and constrained). Defined with RESonate tool in GIS
System and Response variables: Hydrology/Hydrogeomorphology System metabolism Food webs (organic sources, food chain length, trophic complexity) Biodiversity traits and assemblages
Figure 11. CA Biplot showing a dis@nct difference in the distribu@on of FPZs across drainages of the Great Basin. Lowland FPZs show higher similari@es among communi@es of wide and constrained valley
Broader Impacts
,
Figure 12. Darker named points are the dominant taxa contribu@ng to the groups in figure 11
Work with Mongolian students and faculty Field research training and outreach for high school students Prairie Park Elementary School Science Discovery Day Girl Scout STEM Expo Ac@ve project webpage Facebook (@macrorivers) - 216 followers, an average of 265 people reached per post 7. Twiier (@macrorivers) - 281 followers, 2600 "impressions" in the last month 8. Instagram (@macrorivers) - 57 followers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
River flows continuously MACRO tests its continuity Continents are our target Bolortsetseg Erdenee
