Dynamic response of desert wetlands to abrupt climate change

A paleohydrologic record from the Las Vegas Valley (southern Nevada, United States) shows that desert wetlands were extremely sensitive to rapid climatic changes during the past 35,000 years and exhibit temporal congruence with the Greenland ice core record. Wetlands in the valley expanded and contr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Springer, Kathleen B., Manker, Craig R., Pigati, Jeffrey S.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2015
Subjects:
Physical Sciences
Greenland
Greenland ice core
ice core
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4664373/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26554007
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1513352112
Description
Summary:A paleohydrologic record from the Las Vegas Valley (southern Nevada, United States) shows that desert wetlands were extremely sensitive to rapid climatic changes during the past 35,000 years and exhibit temporal congruence with the Greenland ice core record. Wetlands in the valley expanded and contracted many times in response to climatic events during this period, including Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles and other millennial and submillennial climatic perturbations. Widespread erosion occurred when entire wetland systems collapsed during exceptionally dry times. Drought-like conditions typically lasted for a few centuries, which highlights the threat of anthropogenic warming to endemic fauna and flora that depend on desert wetlands to provide a consistent source of water in an otherwise arid landscape.

Similar Items