Welch, Ron: University of Alabama-Huntsville (Institution Lead)
Welch, Ron: University of Alabama-Huntsville (Institution Lead)
Project Funding:
2007 - 2010
NRA: 2006 NASA: Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
The scale and speed of habitat loss and fragmentation in one of the earth's biologically richest regions has led conservationists to propose the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), an integrated regional initiative intended to conserve biological and ecosystem diversity in a manner that also provides sustainable economic development. The MBC proposes to connect isolated parks, preserves and forest fragments with new protected areas to create a network of biological corridors within the five southern states of Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The intent is to provide an environment that provides better prospects for the long-term survival of species, while at the same time addressing the region’s socioeconomic needs.
The primary objective of this proposed investigation is to determine the extent of which land use change disturbances have affected and are affecting regional and local climatic conditions in ways that influence the environmental stability of protected regions and proposed corridors in the MBC. Specifically, we focus upon precipitation and temperature fields that define the various Holdridge Life Zones. The first hypothesis is that land use disturbances are large enough to alter the locations of Life Zones throughout many if not most regions within Central America. The second hypothesis is that many corridors have and are developing habitats for creatures and plants that are significantly different from the original communities as defined by the HLZs. The proposed investigation has both a satellite remote sensing and a modeling component. Combining the historical precipitation database for Central America with MODIS, GOES and other satellite imagery and the GEMRAMS atmospheric modeling system, we will determine whether Central American deforestation and land use change has altered regional and local climates in ways that are likely to influence the conservation utility of MBC core elements and corridors. Using SERVIR databases compiled from the Central American countries’ networks of meteorological station, and remote sensing data, we will examine historical and current spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation, comparing precipitation in deforested and forested areas within each of the region’s Holdridge Life Zones. Paired forested and deforested simulation studies with GEMRAMS will help elucidate mechanisms underlying observed climate changes, and provide evidence of the extent to which regional climate changes may be affecting plant growth, and consequently the likelihood of the MBC preserving the original assemblage of Central American ecological communities.
Publications:
Berendes, T., Sengupta, S. K., Welch, R. M., Wielicki, B. A., Navar, M. 1992. Cumulus cloud base height estimation from high spatial resolution Landsat data: a Hough transform approach. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 30(3), 430-443. DOI: 10.1109/36.142921
Manoharan, V. S., Welch, R. M., Lawton, R. O. 2009. Impact of deforestation on regional surface temperatures and moisture in the Maya lowlands of Guatemala. Geophysical Research Letters. 36(21). DOI: 10.1029/2009gl040818
Nair, U. S., Ray, D. K., Wang, J., Christopher, S. A., Lyons, T. J., Welch, R. M., Pielke, R. A. 2007. Observational estimates of radiative forcing due to land use change in southwest Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research. 112(D9). DOI: 10.1029/2006jd007505
2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters
- Monitoring change in precipitation with change in land cover over Central America
-- (Vani Starry Manoharan, Ronald Welch)
[abstract]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):