Water stress indicators and ecohydrologic change in riparian woodlands
Human demand on water resources, particularly groundwater, is high in arid-land river basins where significant withdrawals occur for intensive agriculture and industry. The interaction between groundwater extraction by humans and drought and climate change, such as that which is currently affecting large areas of the U.S. Southwest and southern Europe, can result in rapidly declining water tables with strongly negative consequences for groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs). Riparian trees including willows, cottonwoods and other poplars, are particularly sensitive to drought, climate change, and declining groundwater water levels, with reduced growth, vigor, and physiological function. These conditions, if they persist, lead to riparian forest decline, with substantial risks to the ecosystems they support and the services they provide to society.
Together with collaborators at Cardiff University, UC Santa Barbara, and CNRS (France), our lab is developing a suite of multi-disciplinary water stress indicators for riparian forests to assess the impacts of hydrologic change from both natural causes and human manipulation. We have several projects in the Southwestern U.S. and the Rhône River Basin (France), with funding from the National Science Foundation and SERDP, the U.S. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. Our approach is to couple field-based tree-ring research, stable isotope analysis, and high-resolution remote sensing to calibrate water stress indicators across a range of geographic scales from individual trees to forest stands to an entire riparian corridor. The ultimate goal of the project is to identify trends and thresholds in forest response to groundwater decline and drought that can be used to protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems in multiple-use river basins.
Collaborators:
Related publications: (* indicates student contributors)
Lochin, P.*, P. Malherbe, B. Marteau, J. Godfroy, F. Gerle, J. Marshall, S Puijalon, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, H. Piégay, A. Vernay. In review. The Ant and the Grasshopper: contrasting responses and behaviors to water stress of riparian trees along a hydroclimatic gradient. Science of the Total Environment
Lochin, P.*, H. Piégay, J.C. Stella, K.K. Caylor, L. Vaudor, M.B. Singer. In review. Drivers of spatiotemporal patterns of riparian forest greenness along a hydroclimatic gradient. Ecohydrology
Rohde, M.M.**, C.M. Albano, X. Huggins, K.R. Klausmeyer, C. Morton, A. Sharman, E. Zaveri, L. Saito, Z. Freed, J.K. Howard, N. Job, H. Richter, K. Toderick, A-S Rodella, T. Gleeson, J. Huntington, H.A. Chandanpurkar, A.J. Purdy, J.S. Famiglietti, M.B. Singer, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, J.C. Stella. In review. Groundwater-dependent ecosystem map exposes global dryland protection needs. Nature.
Williams, J.**, J.C. Stella, M.B Singer, A.M. Lambert, S.L. Voelker,, J.E. Drake,, J.M. Friedman,, L. Pelletier**,, L. Kui, D.A. Roberts. In press. Seasonal and species-level water-use strategies and groundwater dependence in dryland riparian woodlands during extreme drought. Water Resources Research.
Rohde, M.M.**, J.C. Stella, M.B. Singer, D. A. Roberts, K. Caylor, C.M. Albano. 2024. Groundwater for Ecosystems: Establishing ecological thresholds and targets for groundwater management. Nature Water DOI: 10.1038/s44221-024-00221-w
McMahon, C.*, D.A. Roberts, J.C. Stella, A. Trugman, M.B. Singer, K.K. Caylor. 2024. A river runs through it: robust automated mapping of riparian woodlands and land surface phenology across dryland regions. Remote Sensing and the Environment DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2024.114056
Kibler, C.L.*, A.T. Trugman, D.A. Roberts, C.J. Still, R.L. Scott, K.K. Caylor, J.C. Stella, M.B. Singer. 2023. Evapotranspiration regulates leaf temperature and respiration in dryland vegetation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109560
Warter, M.M.*, M.B. Singer, D. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, R. Sabathier, M.O. Cuthbert, J.C. Stella. 2023. Modeling seasonal vegetation phenology from hydroclimatic drivers for contrasting plant functional groups within drylands of the Southwestern USA. Environmental Research: Ecology DOI: 10.1088/2752-664X/acb9a0
Sabathier, R.*, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, K.L. Jaeger, J.D. Olden. 2023. High resolution spatiotemporal patterns of flow at the landscape scale in montane non-perennial streams. River Research and Applications 39:225-240 DOI: 10.1002/rra.4076
Williams, J.**, J.C. Stella, S.L. Voelker, A.M. Lambert, L. Pelletier, J.E. Drake, J.M. Friedman, D.A. Roberts, M.B. Singer. 2022. Local groundwater decline exacerbates response of dryland riparian woodlands to climatic drought. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16376
Rohde, M.M.**, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, M.B. Singer. 2021. Groundwater dependence of riparian woodlands and the disrupting effect of anthropogenically altered streamflow. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026453118
Kibler, C.L.*, E.C. Schmidt*, D.A. Roberts, J.C. Stella, L. Kui, A.M. Lambert, M. Singer. 2021. A brown wave of riparian woodland mortality following groundwater declines during the 2012-2019 California drought. Environmental Research Letters. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac1377
Sabathier, R.*, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor. 2021. Vegetation responses to climatic and geologic controls on water availability in southeastern Arizona. Environmental Research Letters 16 : (ERL-109499) DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8c
Warter, M.M.*, M.B. Singer, M.O. Cuthbert, D.A. Roberts, K. Caylor, R. Sabathier*, J.C. Stella. 2021. Drought onset and propagation into soil moisture and grassland vegetation responses during the 2012–2019 major drought in Southern California. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS). DOI: 10.5194/hess-25-3713-2021
Mayes, M., K. Caylor, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, P. Nagler. 2020. Climate sensitivity of water use by riparian woodlands at landscape scales. Hydrological Processes. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.13942
Hultine, K.R., K.C. Grady, T.E. Wood, S.M. Shuster, J.C. Stella, T.G. Whitham. 2016. Climate change perils for dioecious plant species. Nature Plants. 10.1038/nplants.2016.109
Stella, J.C., J. Riddle*, H. Piégay, M. Gagnage*, M-L. Trémélo. 2013. Climate and local geomorphic interactions drive patterns of riparian forest decline along a Mediterranean Basin river. Geomorphology. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.01.013 [pdf]
Stella, J.C., P. Rodríguez-González, S. Dufour, J. Bendix. 2013. Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management. Hydrobiologia 719:291–315. DOI: 10.1007/s10750-012-1304-9
Singer, M.B., J.C. Stella, S. Dufour, L.B. Johnstone*, H. Piégay, and R.J.S. Wilson.2012. Contrasting water uptake and growth responses to drought in co-occurring riparian tree species. Ecohydrology. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1283 [pdf]
Schifman, L.A.*, J.C. Stella, M. Teece and T.A. Volk. 2012. Plant growth and water stress response of hybrid willow (Salix spp.) among sites and years in central New York. Biomass & Bioenergy 36: 316-326 DOI:10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.10.042 [pdf]
Stella, J.C., and J.J. Battles. 2010. How do riparian woody seedlings survive seasonal drought? Oecologia 164:579–590. DOI 10.1007/s00442-010-1657-6 [pdf]
Together with collaborators at Cardiff University, UC Santa Barbara, and CNRS (France), our lab is developing a suite of multi-disciplinary water stress indicators for riparian forests to assess the impacts of hydrologic change from both natural causes and human manipulation. We have several projects in the Southwestern U.S. and the Rhône River Basin (France), with funding from the National Science Foundation and SERDP, the U.S. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. Our approach is to couple field-based tree-ring research, stable isotope analysis, and high-resolution remote sensing to calibrate water stress indicators across a range of geographic scales from individual trees to forest stands to an entire riparian corridor. The ultimate goal of the project is to identify trends and thresholds in forest response to groundwater decline and drought that can be used to protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems in multiple-use river basins.
Collaborators:
- Melissa Rohde (Rohde Environmental Consulting and SUNY ESF)
- Michael Singer (Cardiff University)
- Dar Roberts (UC Santa Barbara)
- Kelly Caylor (UC Santa Barbara)
- Hervé Piégay (French National Centre for Scientific Research)
- The Nature Conservancy (California chapter)
- Riparian Invasion Research Lab (UC Santa Barbara)
Related publications: (* indicates student contributors)
Lochin, P.*, P. Malherbe, B. Marteau, J. Godfroy, F. Gerle, J. Marshall, S Puijalon, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, H. Piégay, A. Vernay. In review. The Ant and the Grasshopper: contrasting responses and behaviors to water stress of riparian trees along a hydroclimatic gradient. Science of the Total Environment
Lochin, P.*, H. Piégay, J.C. Stella, K.K. Caylor, L. Vaudor, M.B. Singer. In review. Drivers of spatiotemporal patterns of riparian forest greenness along a hydroclimatic gradient. Ecohydrology
Rohde, M.M.**, C.M. Albano, X. Huggins, K.R. Klausmeyer, C. Morton, A. Sharman, E. Zaveri, L. Saito, Z. Freed, J.K. Howard, N. Job, H. Richter, K. Toderick, A-S Rodella, T. Gleeson, J. Huntington, H.A. Chandanpurkar, A.J. Purdy, J.S. Famiglietti, M.B. Singer, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, J.C. Stella. In review. Groundwater-dependent ecosystem map exposes global dryland protection needs. Nature.
Williams, J.**, J.C. Stella, M.B Singer, A.M. Lambert, S.L. Voelker,, J.E. Drake,, J.M. Friedman,, L. Pelletier**,, L. Kui, D.A. Roberts. In press. Seasonal and species-level water-use strategies and groundwater dependence in dryland riparian woodlands during extreme drought. Water Resources Research.
Rohde, M.M.**, J.C. Stella, M.B. Singer, D. A. Roberts, K. Caylor, C.M. Albano. 2024. Groundwater for Ecosystems: Establishing ecological thresholds and targets for groundwater management. Nature Water DOI: 10.1038/s44221-024-00221-w
McMahon, C.*, D.A. Roberts, J.C. Stella, A. Trugman, M.B. Singer, K.K. Caylor. 2024. A river runs through it: robust automated mapping of riparian woodlands and land surface phenology across dryland regions. Remote Sensing and the Environment DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2024.114056
Kibler, C.L.*, A.T. Trugman, D.A. Roberts, C.J. Still, R.L. Scott, K.K. Caylor, J.C. Stella, M.B. Singer. 2023. Evapotranspiration regulates leaf temperature and respiration in dryland vegetation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109560
Warter, M.M.*, M.B. Singer, D. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, R. Sabathier, M.O. Cuthbert, J.C. Stella. 2023. Modeling seasonal vegetation phenology from hydroclimatic drivers for contrasting plant functional groups within drylands of the Southwestern USA. Environmental Research: Ecology DOI: 10.1088/2752-664X/acb9a0
Sabathier, R.*, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor, K.L. Jaeger, J.D. Olden. 2023. High resolution spatiotemporal patterns of flow at the landscape scale in montane non-perennial streams. River Research and Applications 39:225-240 DOI: 10.1002/rra.4076
Williams, J.**, J.C. Stella, S.L. Voelker, A.M. Lambert, L. Pelletier, J.E. Drake, J.M. Friedman, D.A. Roberts, M.B. Singer. 2022. Local groundwater decline exacerbates response of dryland riparian woodlands to climatic drought. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16376
Rohde, M.M.**, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, M.B. Singer. 2021. Groundwater dependence of riparian woodlands and the disrupting effect of anthropogenically altered streamflow. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026453118
Kibler, C.L.*, E.C. Schmidt*, D.A. Roberts, J.C. Stella, L. Kui, A.M. Lambert, M. Singer. 2021. A brown wave of riparian woodland mortality following groundwater declines during the 2012-2019 California drought. Environmental Research Letters. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac1377
Sabathier, R.*, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, K.K. Caylor. 2021. Vegetation responses to climatic and geologic controls on water availability in southeastern Arizona. Environmental Research Letters 16 : (ERL-109499) DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8c
Warter, M.M.*, M.B. Singer, M.O. Cuthbert, D.A. Roberts, K. Caylor, R. Sabathier*, J.C. Stella. 2021. Drought onset and propagation into soil moisture and grassland vegetation responses during the 2012–2019 major drought in Southern California. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS). DOI: 10.5194/hess-25-3713-2021
Mayes, M., K. Caylor, M.B. Singer, J.C. Stella, D.A. Roberts, P. Nagler. 2020. Climate sensitivity of water use by riparian woodlands at landscape scales. Hydrological Processes. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.13942
Hultine, K.R., K.C. Grady, T.E. Wood, S.M. Shuster, J.C. Stella, T.G. Whitham. 2016. Climate change perils for dioecious plant species. Nature Plants. 10.1038/nplants.2016.109
Stella, J.C., J. Riddle*, H. Piégay, M. Gagnage*, M-L. Trémélo. 2013. Climate and local geomorphic interactions drive patterns of riparian forest decline along a Mediterranean Basin river. Geomorphology. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.01.013 [pdf]
Stella, J.C., P. Rodríguez-González, S. Dufour, J. Bendix. 2013. Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management. Hydrobiologia 719:291–315. DOI: 10.1007/s10750-012-1304-9
Singer, M.B., J.C. Stella, S. Dufour, L.B. Johnstone*, H. Piégay, and R.J.S. Wilson.2012. Contrasting water uptake and growth responses to drought in co-occurring riparian tree species. Ecohydrology. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1283 [pdf]
Schifman, L.A.*, J.C. Stella, M. Teece and T.A. Volk. 2012. Plant growth and water stress response of hybrid willow (Salix spp.) among sites and years in central New York. Biomass & Bioenergy 36: 316-326 DOI:10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.10.042 [pdf]
Stella, J.C., and J.J. Battles. 2010. How do riparian woody seedlings survive seasonal drought? Oecologia 164:579–590. DOI 10.1007/s00442-010-1657-6 [pdf]
