Microenvironmental change in Cuyama Valley 2017.2 goals

In 2016, we deployed micro-environmental data logger arrays to monitor global change dynamics at very fine scales. We also structured measurements to ensure we can infer and link to a biotic interaction signal between common plants within this region.

This is very important region to study for at least two reasons ecologically.

(1) Water issues with people, plants, and agricultural are critical here.

(2) Cuyama Valley is an excellent set of sites or mesocosm for the San Joaquin Valley at large. The San Joaquin Valley is still sinking (NASA report). We need to understand temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture availability patterns at many scales within the region.

This season, 2017, is a relative boom year in terms of precipitation. Here are the immediate sampling goals for this season.

1. April (mid). At peak flowering, count burrows, re-measure shrub sizes, sample annual vegetation, and collect biomass.
2. May (mid). Retrieve all logger units, download data, and check functionality. These data capture two growing seasons – one drought, one wet.
3. May (mid). Re-deploy and re-initialize loggers. Rationale – need data on shrub effects when it matters for animals like lizards and hoppers etc and when it is really hot.
4. Sept (end). Retrieve loggers and sensors, download data, end experiment.
5. Oct. Design and test a missing-data strategy to address missing sensor and logger failures. I will likely implement a within-site, resampling data strategy associated with central tendency measures to fill gaps.