Data associated with “How Big is Big Enough? Surprising Responses of a Semi-arid Grassland to Increasing Deluge Size”

Post, Alison; Knapp, Alan

Data associated with “How Big is Big Enough? Surprising Responses of a Semi-arid Grassland to Increasing Deluge Size”

dc.contributor.author	Post, Alison
dc.contributor.author	Knapp, Alan
dc.coverage.spatial	Central Plains Experimental Range	en_US
dc.coverage.temporal	2018-05-01-2018-08-28	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2020-11-24T19:03:46Z
dc.date.available	2020-11-24T19:03:46Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.description	Data used in manuscript “How Big is Big Enough? Surprising Responses of a Semi-arid Grassland to Increasing Deluge Size.” This study quantifies the impact of deluge size on various ecosystem processes in the shortgrass steppe of Eastern Colorado.	en_US
dc.description	Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
dc.description.abstract	Climate change has intensified the hydrologic cycle globally, increasing the magnitude and frequency of large precipitation events, or deluges. Dryland ecosystems are expected to be particularly responsive to increases in deluge size, as their ecological processes are largely dependent on distinct soil moisture pulses. To better understand how increasing deluge size will affect ecosystem function, we conducted a field experiment in a native semi-arid shortgrass steppe (Colorado, USA). We quantified ecological responses to a range of deluge sizes, from moderate to extreme, with the goal of identifying response patterns and thresholds beyond which ecological processes would not increase further (saturate). Using a replicated regression approach, we imposed single deluges that ranged in size from 20 to 120 mm (82.3rd to > 99.9th percentile of historical event size) on undisturbed grassland plots. We quantified pre- and post-deluge responses in soil moisture, soil respiration, and canopy greenness, as well as leaf water potential, growth, and flowering of the dominant grass species (Bouteloua gracilis). We also measured end of season above- and below-ground net primary production (ANPP, BNPP). As expected, this water-limited ecosystem responded strongly to the applied deluges, but surprisingly, most variables increased linearly with deluge size. We found little evidence for response thresholds within the range of deluge sizes imposed, at least during a dry year. Instead, response patterns reflected the linear increase in the duration of elevated soil moisture (2-22 days) with increasing event size. Flowering of B. gracilis and soil respiration responded particularly strongly to deluge size (14- and 4-fold increases, respectively), as did ANPP and BNPP (~60% increase for both). Overall, our results suggest that this semi-arid grassland will respond positively and linearly to predicted increases in deluge size, and that event sizes will need to exceed historical magnitudes before responses saturate.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Stavros Family Fund from the CSU Department of Biology.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP).	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Award (NIFA #2018-67019-27849).	en_US
dc.format.medium	PDF
dc.format.medium	CSV
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10217/217319
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.25675/10217/217319
dc.language	English	en_US
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher	Colorado State University. Libraries	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Research Data
dc.relation.isreferencedby	Post, A.K. & Knapp, A.K. How big is big enough? Surprising responses of a semiarid grassland to increasing deluge size. Glob Change Biol. 2021; 27: 1157–1169. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15479	en_US
dc.subject	Net Primary Production	en_US
dc.subject	precipitation extremes	en_US
dc.subject	semi-arid grassland	en_US
dc.subject	shortgrass steppe	en_US
dc.subject	soil respiration	en_US
dc.title	Data associated with “How Big is Big Enough? Surprising Responses of a Semi-arid Grassland to Increasing Deluge Size”	en_US
dc.type	Dataset	en_US