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Temperature sensitivity in aboveground net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands

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dc.contributor.authorMowll, Whitney Macy, author
dc.contributor.authorKnapp, Alan, advisor
dc.contributor.authorSmith, Melinda, committee member
dc.contributor.authorHess, Ann, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T06:23:21Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T06:23:21Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractAlthough climate models forecast warmer temperatures with a high degree of certainty, precipitation is the primary driver of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in most grasslands. In contrast, variations in temperature seldom are related to patterns of ANPP. Thus forecasting responses to warming is a challenge, and raises the question: how sensitive will grassland ANPP be to warming? I evaluated climate and multi-year ANPP data (67 years) from eight western US grasslands arrayed along substantial mean annual temperature (MAT, ~7-14 °C) and mean annual precipitation (MAP, ~300 - 500 mm) gradients. I used regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to assess relationships between ANPP and temperature, as well as precipitation (annual and growing season) to evaluate temperature sensitivity of ANPP. I also related ANPP to the Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI), which combines precipitation and evapotranspiration estimates. Regression models indicated that variation in growing season temperature was negatively related to total and graminoid ANPP, but precipitation was a better predictor than temperature. Growing season temperature was also a significant parameter in more complex models, but again precipitation was consistently a stronger predictor of ANPP. Surprisingly, neither annual nor growing season SPEI was as strongly related to ANPP as was precipitation alone. I conclude that warming will affect ANPP in these grasslands, but that predicting temperature effects from natural climatic gradients is difficult. This is because unlike precipitation, warming effects are likely to be complex and site specific as well as moderated by regional shifts in the C3/C4 ratios of plant communities.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierMowll_colostate_0053N_12594.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/88581
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectclimate
dc.subjectgrassland
dc.subjectprecipitation
dc.subjectproductivity
dc.subjectsemi-arid
dc.subjecttemperature
dc.titleTemperature sensitivity in aboveground net primary productivity in semi-arid grasslands
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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