Long-term record of wetted area, substrate type, and plant features in Sycamore Creek, Arizona, USA (2010-2020)

The primary objective of this project is to understand how long-term climate variability and change influence the structure and function of desert streams via effects on hydrologic disturbance regimes. Climate and hydrology are intimately linked in arid landscapes; for this reason, desert streams are particularly well suited for both observing and understanding the consequences of climate variability and directional change. Researchers try to (1) determine how climate variability and change over multiple years influence stream biogeomorphic structure (i.e., prevalence and persistence of wetland and gravel-bed ecosystem states) via their influence on factors that control vegetation biomass, and (2) compare interannual variability in within-year successional patterns in ecosystem processes and community structure of primary producers and consumers of two contrasting reach types (wetland and gravel-bed stream reaches). This dataset was collected to understand changes of biota patch cover in different sites and reaches of Sycamore Creek and the transition of different algal and plant communities in post-flood succession.本项目的核心目标为阐明长期气候变率与气候变化如何通过影响水文扰动格局，进而调控荒漠溪流的结构与功能。干旱景观中气候与水文过程紧密关联，因此荒漠溪流尤其适合用于观测并解析气候变率与定向气候变化所带来的影响效应。本研究旨在达成两项核心任务：其一，明确多年尺度的气候变率与变化如何通过调控植被生物量的相关影响因子，作用于溪流生物地貌结构——即湿地与砾石底生生态系统状态的占比与存续性；其二，对比两种差异化河段类型（湿地河段与砾石底溪流河段）的生态系统过程、初级生产者与消费者群落结构的年内演替格局的年际变异性。本数据集的采集旨在解析西卡莫尔溪（Sycamore Creek）不同样点与河段内的生物群落斑块盖度变化，以及洪水后演替过程中不同藻类与植物群落的演替转换过程。