Chaparral Shrublands

Data Collected

A strength of the chaparral experimental watershed studies is the long-term databases accumulated (usually 20 plus years). For watersheds in the chaparral vegetation the following types of information have been collected:

• Precipitation
• Air temperature and humidity
• Streamflow
• Erosion and sedimentation
• Image collection (www.rmrs.nau.edu/imagedb/)
• Nutrient concentrations in precipitation and streamflow
• Forage production and utilization
• Wildlife trends

The studies in the chaparral and other vegetation types (For example: pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine) in Arizona have shown that short-term observations are often misleading and that decades may be required to detect real changes in complex ecosystems. The long-term records in chaparral provides:

• Insight into ecosystem function
• empirical data for testing models and generating hypothesis
• A record of extreme or unusual events
• Information that is relevant to regional, national, and global issues

Access to the long-term data sets developed through chaparral studies is provided in the data link.