Pulse Reserve Symposium

Dryland ecosystems are characterized by infrequent and variable precipitation and, in his seminal 1973 paper, Noy-Meir proposed hypotheses that placed dryland ecosystem controls into a ‘pulse dynamics’ framework. This framework has become a central tenet for dryland ecology and, while it has been frequently cited and built upon, the paradigm has not been directly tested. Now is an ideal time to undertake a rigorous quantitative assessment of the pulse- reserve paradigm. In the past forty years, the scientific community has accrued numerous experiments and datasets with which to test the paradigm. Further, several numerical tools have evolved that allow us to address these concepts across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Here we bring together world-renowned dryland experts, numerical modelers, and remote sensors to directly assess and refine a framework for understanding how precipitation and soil moisture drive plant community composition, productivity, soil respiration, and coupled biogeochemical cycles. Emerging evidence suggests that dryland plant activity determines biogeochemical cycles at the global-scale and, in this context, a framework for understanding how climate regulates dryland functioning would be of great benefit for considering both current and future global function. In sum, this symposium seeks to continue Noy-Meir’s legacy of elucidating precipitation controls in drylands, to put this legacy into a climate change context, and to utilize the wealth of dryland data and numerical tools that have accumulated in the last forty years to create an improved framework on which dryland ecology can continue to build.

The full program can also be found here.

April 10, 2018

April 11, 2018

April 12, 2018

April 13, 2018

April 14, 2018

Venue | We-Ko-Pa Resort and Conference Center, 10438 N Fort McDowell Rd, Fort McDowell, AZ 85264

Workshop Rationale | Dryland ecosystems are characterized by infrequent and variable precipitation and, in his seminal 1973 paper, Noy-Meir proposed hypotheses that placed dryland ecosystem controls into a ‘pulse dynamics’ framework. This framework has become a central tenet for dryland ecology and, while it has been frequently cited and built upon, the paradigm has not been directly tested. Now is an ideal time to undertake a rigorous quantitative assessment of the pulse- reserve paradigm. In the past forty years, the scientific community has accrued numerous experiments and datasets with which to test the paradigm. Further, several numerical tools have evolved that allow us to address these concepts across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Here we bring together world-renowned dryland experts, numerical modelers, and remote sensors to directly assess and refine a framework for understanding how precipitation and soil moisture drive plant community composition, productivity, soil respiration, and coupled biogeochemical cycles. Emerging evidence suggests that dryland plant activity determines biogeochemical cycles at the global-scale and, in this context, a framework for understanding how climate regulates dryland functioning would be of great benefit for considering both current and future global function. In sum, this symposium seeks to continue Noy-Meir’s legacy of elucidating precipitation controls in drylands, to put this legacy into a climate change context, and to utilize the wealth of dryland data and numerical tools that have accumulated in the last forty years to create an improved framework on which dryland ecology can continue to build.

We will be staying at the We-ko-pa resort and conference center. The address is:

10438 North Fort McDowell Road

Scottsdale / Fountain Hills, AZ 85264

Phone: (480) 789-5300

Check in starts at 4:00 PM. You will have your own king room for the duration of the symposium, and all meals will be provided. There is internet access throughout the conference center.

You will be flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

Sasha, Marcy, and Brandon will be arriving between 3:50 PM and 4:00 Pm in Terminal 4 of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Lau Gherardi will pick you up from the airport. Plan to meet at the Starbucks at the exit of the A gates. Check your e-mail for his contact information and cell number.

Alan and Melinda will be arriving at 4:20 PM in terminal 2 of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Osvaldo will pick you up at the terminal.

If you don’t have an arranged pick-up, please take an Uber or Lyft to the resort, located approximately 30 minutes from the airport. To take a Lyft from the airport, follow the instructions here. For an Uber, please follow the instructions here. The pick-up area varies depending on which terminal you are arriving into, but either the app or the link provided will indicate where to meet your driver.

Transportation to and from the dinners at Sam Campana’s home and  Osvaldo Sala’s home will be provided.

Transportation to the hike at Gateway will also be provided.

When departing to Phoenix Sky Harbor, please take an Uber or Lyft to the airport, located approximately 30 minutes from the resort.

Jane, Colin, and Sasha are departing from PHX at 12:15 PM on Saturday and may want to share a Lyft or Uber.

Brandon, Alan, and Melinda are departing around 9:00 AM on Saturday and may want to share a Lyft or Uber.

Please keep a copy of your receipt so we can reimburse you for this travel expense.

For reimbursement to and from the resort as well as any checked baggage fees, please fill out this form and return it to Kelly O’Meara ([email protected]) no later than May 1st, 2018. For expenses exceeding $25.00, you will need to provide original receipts. For Lyft or Uber receipts, please email the original electronic receipt to [email protected]. Physical receipts should be mailed to:

Osvaldo Sala/ SOLS

Arizona State University

PO Box 874501

Tempe, AZ 85287-4501

Jayne Belnap

Brandon Bestelmeyer

Scott Collins

David Eldridge

Scott Ferrenberg

Ferran Garcia-Pichel

Laureano Gherardi

Sharon Hall

Alan Knapp

Marcy Litvack

Nate McDowell

Sasha Reed

Osvaldo Sala

Mendy Smith

Heather Throop

Colin Tucker

Enrique Vivoni

Laura Yahdjian

Attendees are asked to read these relevant publications before the symposium:

Noy-Meir 1973
Jenerette et al. 2008
Yang et al. 2008
Collins et al. 2014

Oecologia special issue on pulse dynamics.