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464Sevillita

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION - GLOBAL FIDUCIAL SITE SURVEY

 

------PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL SITE MAPS WITH COORDINATES OF SITE CORNERS OR CENTER POINT IN LAT/LONG-----

 

Site Name:                 Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge

near Albuquerque, NM (LTER Site #19)

GFL #:                        464

State, Country:          New Mexico, USA

USGS Quad Name:   La Joya, NM  1952/1971

Priority (1, 2,3):         1

 

 

Point Size (diameter-nautical miles):

Center Coordinates (lat/long, not decimal or UTM):

            N34 22 00 W106 40 00

Elevation of center point (meters):

            4900ft

 

 

Rectangle Size (N-S x E-W- nautical miles):                      8.2 x 8.2                     

NE corner (lat/long, not decimal or UTM): N34 25 30 W106 34 30

SE corner (lat/long, not decimal or UTM):  N34 18 10 W106 34 30

SW corner (lat/long, not decimal or UTM): N34 18 10 W106 45 00

NW corner (lat/long, not decimal or UTM):            N34 25 30 W106 45 00

 

            Elevation of center (meters):

 

Other sponsoring/interested agencies?

 

            NSF, University of New Mexico; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 

Ecosystems represented:

 

Multiple--intersection of subalpine mixed-conifer forest/meadow, riparian cottonwood forest, dry mountainland, grassland, cold desert, hot desert. Conifer savanna; creosote bush; desert grassland; mesquite and sand dunes; Great Basin shrub and shortgrass steppes; tallgrass swales; riparian communities.

 

List any site designations such as global warming research site, United Nations - Man and the Biosphere Reserve, etc.:

 

 

 

What is the resource to be monitored, long-term?

 

            Arid, Semi-Arid Transition

 

Detailed description of the resource and relevant management issues:

 

The dominant theme of the Sevilleta LTER program is to examine long-term changes in ecosystem attributes (e.g. population dynamics of plants and animals, nutrient cycling, hydrology, productivity, species diversity) as a result of both natural and human disturbances (e.g. global warming, acid rain, grazing, wildfires, droughts, and "El Niño"). Through these long-term studies, scientists will improve their understanding of the natural dynamics of ecosystems in the heterogeneous landscape of central New Mexico.

 

The major focus of the Sevilleta LTER relates to the synthetic understanding of ecological responses at various levels of organization (e.g. organismal, population, community, ecosystem, and landscape) and at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The program is organized to address:

 

   1.The role of water in the region in driving major ecosystem processes.

   2.The fate of carbon as it is controlled by processes of assimilation, decomposition,                                

       and redistribution.

   3.Land use practices which regulate the extent and distribution of carbon processing.

   4.The assembly, distribution, and maintenance of biodiversity.

   5.The direct and indirect consequences of changing climatic conditions.

 

The research area encompasses approximately 3,600 square kilometers and ranges from Rio Grande riparian forests (bosque) and Chihuahuan Desert up to subalpine forests and meadows. Because the Sevilleta LTER is a transition zone for a number of biomes, the area cannot be easily or conveniently characterized. This convergence of biomes, however, has created an important research area for geology, hydrology, archeology, atmospheric science, biology, and ecology for many decades.

 

Website: http://sevilleta.unm.edu/

 

 

How frequently and when does monitoring data need to be collected?

 

 

 

 

Resolution/scale needed:

 

 

 

 

 

NSF Site Point of Contact (POC), address, phone/fax number:

Alan M. Gaines

            Senior Science Associate for Spatial Data and Information

            National Science Foundation

            4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1070

Arlington, VA 22230  

Voice:  +1.703.306.1517

FAX:    +1.703.306.0091

email:  againes@nsf.gov

John Van de Castle

            Associate Director for Technology

            Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)- Network Office

            University of New Mexico, Department of Biology,

            Albuquerque, NM  87131-1091

            Voice:  (505) 272-7315

Fax:  (505) 272-7080

jvc@lternet.edu

 

 

 

Has the resource already been mapped?  If so, is this data available in digital form?

 

Area requested is mapped here:

 

The data available at this site includes some GIS information with extensive archive of  satellite photographs and vector layers. 

 

Any special characteristics (spectral values, thermal anomalies, other parameters, underwater/ground, or characteristics) that would identify or indicate this resource or the condition of it?  If so, what are they and how do they relate?