Quantifying geographic variation in the climatic drivers of midcontinent wetlands with a spatially varying coefficient model.

ABSTRACT: The wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region and in the Great Plains are notorious for their sensitivity to weather variability. These wetlands have been the focus of considerable attention because of their ecological importance and because of the expected impact of climate change. Few models in the literature, however, take into account spatial variation in the importance of wetland drivers. This is surprising given the importance spatial heterogeneity in geomorphology and climatic conditions have in the region. In this paper, I use spatially-varying coefficients to assess the variation in ecological drivers in a number of ponds observed over a 50-year period (1961-2012). I included the number of ponds observed the year before on a log scale, the log of total precipitation, and mean maximum

SUBMITTER: Roy C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4411070 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature