Source: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
UNDERSTANDING WOODY ENCROACHMENT AS A COUPLED-HUMAN AND NATURAL SYSTEM
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1002427
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Mar 5, 2014
Project End Date
Jan 15, 2019
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
Ecosystem Science & Management
Non Technical Summary
Grasslands are converting to woodlands in a process that scientists call woody plant encroachment. This is a complex problem that as important implications for society. This project involves better understanding the interactions of people and the environment particulalry where woody plants are expanding. The work will provide tools and insight for better managing woody landscapes.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
11202101070100%
Knowledge Area
112 - Watershed Protection and Management;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
To better understand the biophysical and socio-economic interactions with respect to woody plant encroachment
Project Methods
InfiltrationLarge scale rainfall simulationModel developmentAnalysis of long-term streamflow

Progress 03/05/14 to 01/15/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Agency personnel Scientists Managers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? With respect to integrating biophysical and socio-economic ideas to address woody plant encroachment we were able to develop a compelling proposal that was funded by the NSF Coupled Human and Natural Systems program. This support allowed us to develop new frameworks for understanging woody plant encroachment as a social ecological system. This work lead to several high impact journal articles and was the foundation for new proposals that are now under review.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wilcox, B.P., A. Birt, S.D. Fuhlendorf and S.A. Archer. 2018. Emerging frameworks for understanding and mitigating the woodification of grassy biomes. Current Opinion in Environment and Sustainability 32: 46-52
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Sun, X, C.B. Zou, B.P. Wilcox, and E. Stebler. 2018. Effect of vegetation on energy balance and evapotranspiration in tallgrass prairie: a paired study with eddy covariance systems. Boundary Layer Meteorology
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: 5. Wilcox, B.P. A. Birt, S.A. Archer, S.D. Fuhlendorf, U. Kreuter, M.Sorice, W. van Leeuwen, and C. Zou. 2018. Viewing woody plant encroachment through a social-ecological lens. BioScience (in press)


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Producers, managers, and policy makers Changes/Problems:None What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provide opportunities for graduate student training. More than 10graduate students have been trained during this period How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are actively collaborating with extension at TAMU to disseminate these results What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue conducting research and published the results of the research.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have advance our understanding of the ecohydrology of shrublands across the globe

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wilcox, B.P., A. Birt, S.D. Fuhlendorf and S.A. Archer. 2018. Emerging frameworks for understanding and mitigating the woodification of grassy biomes. Current Opinion in Environment and Sustainability 32: 46-52.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: da Silva, Y, J. R. B. Cantalice, V. P. Singh, C. W. Nascimento, B. P. Wilcox, Y. da Silva Assessment of heavy metals contamination in water and suspended sediment of the Ipojuca River, Brazil. Acta Scientiarum. Agronomy
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wilcox, B.P. A. Birt, S.A. Archer, S.D. Fuhlendorf, U. Kreuter, M.Sorice, W. van Leeuwen, and C. Zou. 2018. Viewing woody plant encroachment through a social-ecological lens. BioScience
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wilcox, B.P. and H. Asbjornesen. 2018. Emerging Issues in tropical ecohydrology: Preface. Ecohydrology 11
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Leite, P.A.M, and B.P. Wilcox. Good Ant, Bad Ant? Soil Engineering by Ants in the Brazilian Caatinga Differs by Species. 2018. Geoderma 32365-73.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Neponuceno de Ara�jo Filho, R., M.P.Freire, B.P.Wilcox, J.B. West, F.J. Marques. 2018. Recovery of carbon stocks in deforested caatinga dry forest soils requires at least 60 years. Forest Ecology and Management (407) 210-220.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Leite, P.A.M.*, E.S. de Souza, E.S. dos Santos, R.J. Gomes, J.R. Cantalice, and B.P. Wilcox. 2018. The influence of forest regrowth on soil hydraulic properties and erosion in a semiarid region of Brazil. Ecohydrology. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1910.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wilcox, B.P., S. Bruijnzeel, and H. Asbjornsen. 2016. The pace of change in tropical landscapes. EOS: 97, doi:10.1029/2016EO063837
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Pessoa, L.G., M.B. Ffeire, B.P. Wilcox, C.H.Green, R.J. Araujo, and J. C. Filho. 2016. Spectral reflectance characteristics of soils in northeastern Brazil as influenced by salinity levels. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 11:Article 616.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Castellanos, A.E., H. Celaya-Michel, J.C. Rodr�guez, B.P. Wilcox. 2016. Ecohydrological Changes in Semiarid Ecosystems Transformed from Shrubland to Buffelgrass Savanna. Ecohydrology 9: 1663-1674
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Zou, C.B., L. Qiao, and B.P. Wilcox. 2016. Woodland expansion in central Oklahoma will significantly reduce streamflows. Ecohydrology 9:807-816.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M.*, B. Wilcox, J. Angerer, E. Rhodes, and W. Fox. 2016. Complex land use changes obscure woody plant encroachment trends. Landscape Ecology 10:2433-2444
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M.*, F. Marcantonio, M. Allison, J. McAlister, B. Wilcox, and W. Fox. 2016. Contrasting watershed scale trends in runoff and sediment yield complicate rangeland water resources planning. Hydrology and Earth System Science 6:2295-2307
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: da Silva, B., B. P. Wilcox, V. Rodriques da Silva, S. Montenegro, and L. de Oliveira. 2015. Changes to the energy budget and evapotranspiration following conversion of tropcial savannas to agricultural lands in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. 2015. Ecohydrology 7:1272-1283.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M., S*. Popescu, B. Wilcox, J. McAlister, J. Angerer, E. Rhodes, and W. Fox. 2016. Small farm ponds: overlooked features with important impacts on watershed sediment transport. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 16: 67-76


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences include fellow academics, land managers, and agency employees. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue working on integrative papers

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We are making progress in completing some major integrative papers on this topic.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: 8. Berg, M.*, F. Marcantonio, M. Allison, J. McAlister, B. Wilcox, and W. Fox. 2016. Contrasting watershed scale trends in runoff and sediment yield complicate rangeland water resources planning. Hydrology and Earth System Science 6:2295-2307
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: 9. Berg, M., S*. Popescu, B. Wilcox, J. McAlister, J. Angerer, E. Rhodes, and W. Fox. 2016. Small farm ponds: overlooked features with important impacts on watershed sediment transport. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 16: 67-76.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: 1. Wilcox, B.P.D. Le Maitre, E. Jobbagy, L.Wang, and D.D. Breshears. 2017. Ecohydrology: Processes and Implications for Rangelands. In. D.D. Briske (ed.) Rangeland Systems. Springer Series on Environmental Management. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46709-2_3
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: 2. Leite, P.A.M.*, E.S. de Souza, E.S. dos Santos, R.J. Gomes, J.R. Cantalice, and B.P. Wilcox. 2017. The influence of forest regrowth on soil hydraulic properties and erosion in a semiarid region of Brazil. Ecohydrology. DOI: 10.1002/eco.1910.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: 4. Pessoa, L.G., M.B. Ffeire, B.P. Wilcox, C.H.Green, R.J. Araujo, and J. C. Filho. 2016. Spectral reflectance characteristics of soils in northeastern Brazil as influenced by salinity levels. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 11:Article 616.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: 5. Castellanos, A.E., H. Celaya-Michel, J.C. Rodr�guez, B.P. Wilcox. 2016. Ecohydrological Changes in Semiarid Ecosystems Transformed from Shrubland to Buffelgrass Savanna. Ecohydrology 9: 1663-1674.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: 6. Zou, C.B., L. Qiao, and B.P. Wilcox. 2016. Woodland expansion in central Oklahoma will significantly reduce streamflows. Ecohydrology 9:807-816.


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Other academics Government Agencies Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are working on developing interdisciplinary projects and proposals

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We are developing stronger interdisciplinary collaborations to work on woody plant encroachment. These collaborations have lead to a successful application to the National Science Foundation Coupled Human and Natural Systems Program.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M.*, B. Wilcox, J. Angerer, E. Rhodes, and W. Fox. 2016. Complex land use changes obscure woody plant encroachment trends. Landscape Ecology (in press).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M.*, F. Marcantonio, M. Allison, J. McAlister, B. Wilcox, and W. Fox. 2016. Contrasting watershed scale trends in runoff and sediment yield complicate rangeland water resources planning. Hydrology and Earth System Science 6:2295-2307.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Berg, M., S*. Popescu, B. Wilcox, J. McAlister, J. Angerer, E. Rhodes, and W. Fox. 2016. Small farm ponds: overlooked features with important impacts on watershed sediment transport. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 16: 67-76.


Progress 03/05/14 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Other scientists, managers, policy makers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? I was asked to testify to the State Legislature. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I will continue conducting research and publishing papers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We are making progress in understanding the biophysical and social-economic interactions with respect to woody plants. Both publications dealt with this topic and provide and overview.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: 3. Sorice M.G., U.P. Kreuter, B.P. Wilcox, W.E. Fox. 2014. Changing landowners, changing ecosystem? Land ownership motivations as drivers of land management practices. Journal of Environmental Management (in press)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: 4. Wang, Xiuying, C. Amonett, J.R. Williams, B.P. Wilcox, W.E. Fox and M. Tu. 2014. Rangeland watershed study using APEX. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (in press)