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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #423389
Research Project: Knowledge Systems and Tools to Increase the Resilience and Sustainability of Western Rangeland Agriculture

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Windblown sediment flux magnitudes across rangeland ecological states: Insights from the National Wind Erosion Research Network

Author
item EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University
item Webb, Nicholas
item Van Zee, Justin
item Courtright, Ericha
item Cooper, Brad
item NEWINGHAM, BETH - Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Submitted to: Soil and Water Conservation Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/25/2025
Publication Date: 8/6/2025
Citation: Edwards, B.L., Webb, N.P., Van Zee, J.W., Courtright, E.M., Cooper, B.F., Newingham, B. 2025. Windblown sediment flux magnitudes across rangeland ecological states: Insights from the National Wind Erosion Research Network. Soil and Water Conservation Society. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Over the last few decades, the rangeland community has increasingly recognized important linkages between wind erosion and vegetation community composition and structure, but there is a significant lack of physical evidence in the literature to support quantifying how the frequency and magnitude of wind erosion and dust emissions vary with ecological state and respond to land use, management, and ecosystem change. In response, the National Wind Erosion Research Network (NWERN) was launched by USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) as part of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network in 2014 to provide robust, standardized, ground-based monitoring of aeolian sediment transport, meteorological data, and vegetation conditions across land cover types and uses. Here, 10 years on, we present trends in observed sediment fluxes from seven rangeland NWERN sites and discuss how transport rates, a key indicator of wind erosion risk, relate to standard indicators of vegetation community and structure. By comparing observed fluxes across ecological states and meteorological conditions, we highlight potential impacts of disturbance and state changes on wind erosion rates and dust emissions from rangelands.