A. Center/Institute/Program

Earth & Ecosystem Sciences Division/Desert Research Institute

University and Community College System of Nevada

2215 Raggio Parkway

Reno, NV 89512-1095

Phone: 775-673-7409

Fax: 775-673-7485

E-mail: auerbach@dri.edu

Director/Chairperson: Dr. Michael J. Auerbach

Representative to AERC: Dr. Michael J. Auerbach

Alternate: Dr. Lynn Fenstermaker

B. Major objectives of the Center/Institute/Program

1. Become an international center of excellence in understanding the linkage between terrestrial ecosystems and environmental change.

2. Become an international center of excellence in the application of remote sensing to monitor planetary environments.

3. Continue to develop a research faculty with a broad base of expertise in terrestrial and aquatic ecology, geomorphic processes, and remote sensing.

4. Continue to develop “state-of-the-art” laboratory facilities needed to effectively conduct research in biological, chemical, and physical processes of ecosystems on local, regional and global scales.

C. Major ecosystem research emphases

1. Structure, function and management of terrestrial ecosystem on local, regional and global scale.

2. Application of remote sensing/GIS to terrestrial ecosystem issues.

3. Modeling terrestrial ecosystem processes, structures, and functions.

D. Staff

Permanent scientific staff: PhD: 13, MS: 3

Scientific support staff: Postdocs: 3, Technicians: 3

Other support staff: Administrative: 4

Graduate students: PhD: 4

Summer undergraduates: 4

E. Approximate annual funding (recent year)

Core funding: $260,000/yr, Source: Nevada State Legislature

Grants: $5,550,041/yr, Major sources: NSF, DOE, DOE, NASA

Contracts: $436,944/yr, Source: DOE, EPA

F. Areas and facilities for ecosystem research studies

1. Great Basin Environmental Research Laboratory, Reno, Nevada, 500 m², greenhouse with six laboratories, offices.

2. Nevada Desert Research Center, Nevada Test Site, 400 acres, 9 FACE rings, 96 global change plots.

3. Incline Village Experimental Watershed, Incline Village, Nevada, 18 k² watershed in the northeast quadrant of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

4. Little Valley Field Site, between Washoe Valley and Lake Tahoe, south of Reno, 2,000 acres.

G. Research staff directly involved in ecosystem research (names and specialty areas)

Arnone, Jay – terrestrial ecology

Auerbach, Michael – community ecology

Bassett, Scott – landscape ecology, conservation biology

Brock, James – aquatic ecology

Cablk, Mary – landscape ecology

Fenstermaker, Lynn F. – ecological remote sensing

Fritsen, Christian – microbial ecology

Marion, Giles – biogeochemical process modeling

McDonald, E. – soils and restoration ecology

McGwire, Kenneth – geographic research

Minor, Timothy B. – remote sensing

Mouat, David – landscape ecology, remote sensing

Murray, Alison – microbial ecology

Schorran, David – environmental measurement and control

Verburg, Paul – soil ecology and chemistry

Zitzer, Stephen – plant ecology

H. Long-term data sets (code name, number of years of data, computer accessibility)

1. Nevada Desert FACE Facility, April 1997 to date, data on Mojave Desert scrub ecosystem response to elevated and ambient CO₂ levels, http://www.unlv.edu/Climate_Change_Research/.

2. Mojave Global Change Facility, 2001 to date, data on Mojave Desert ecosystem response to increased summer precipitation, N deposition and crust disturbances, http://www.unlv.edu/Climate_Change_Research/.

3. Ecosystem process data from a 1.8 year study of effects of cropping/fallow cycle and N application in model annual grassland ecosystems, including CO₂ and water vapor fluxes, weighing lysimeter and drainage amount, and nutrient data.

4. Forest Response to CO₂, 1991-1996 data set of Ponderosa Pine grown under different CO₂ and nitrogen levels.

5. Evapotranspiration data from six riparian sites along with Lower Colorado River area near Blythe, CA, 4/92-11/93.