Musselman

8 in 10 North American lizards could be at risk due to deforestation (CU �鶹ӰԺ Today)

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

8 in 10 North American lizards could be at risk due to deforestation (CU �鶹ӰԺ Today) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/06/2024 - 00:00

In a study published March 5 in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from CU �鶹ӰԺ and Tel Aviv University in Israel revealed that deforestation combined with climate change could negatively impact 84% of North America’s lizards by the end of the century. Nearly one in five could face population decline. Keith Musselman is one of the three authors.

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Research & Innovation Office announces 2024 Faculty Fellows class (RIO)

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 20:59:08 +0000

Research & Innovation Office announces 2024 Faculty Fellows class (RIO) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/19/2023 - 13:59

Keith Musselman (INSTAAR & Geography) is one 16 CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty members selected by the Research and Innovation Office as their 2024 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. The program supports faculty in achieving their research/innovation goals and promotes collaboration, all through tailored training, experiential learning and leadership development opportunities. Musselman and his cohort will kick off 2024 with an intensive three-day retreat in January, followed by several more focused retreats and a variety of informal networking activities.

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Keith Musselman joins the Department of Geography as Assistant Professor (Geography)

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Keith Musselman joins the Department of Geography as Assistant Professor (Geography) Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/20/2023 - 00:00

INSTAAR Fellow Keith Musselman has joined the Department of Geography. He studies how mountain snowpack supports sustainable ecosystems and water supply for people, wildlife, and agriculture.

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As rising temperatures affect Alaskan rivers, effects ripple through Indigenous communities (CU �鶹ӰԺ Today)

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 20:12:28 +0000

As rising temperatures affect Alaskan rivers, effects ripple through Indigenous communities (CU �鶹ӰԺ Today) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/11/2023 - 14:12

Kelsey Simpkins , CU �鶹ӰԺ

Streamflow is increasing in Alaskan rivers during both spring and fall seasons, primarily due to increasing air temperatures over the past 60 years, creating dangers and difficulties for local communities. New CU �鶹ӰԺ-led research quantifies consequences already observed and experienced for generations by local Indigenous communities who rely on these rivers for their livelihoods.

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Why rain on snow in the California mountains worries scientists (The Conversation)

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:46:51 +0000

Why rain on snow in the California mountains worries scientists (The Conversation) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/14/2023 - 11:46

Another round of powerful atmospheric rivers is hitting California, following storms in January and February 2023 that dumped record amounts of snow. This time, the storms are warmer, and are triggering flood warnings as they bring rain higher into the mountains on top of the snowpack. Keith Musselman explains the complex risks rain on snow creates and how they might change in a warming climate.

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As winters warm, nutrient pollution threatens 40% of U.S. (U Vermont)

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 21:12:49 +0000

As winters warm, nutrient pollution threatens 40% of U.S. (U Vermont) Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/10/2022 - 15:12

As climate changes, previously frozen chemical runoff from farms and fields puts water quality at risk in over 40 states, research says. Keith Musselman part of team looking at winter nutrient pollution, a new problem caused by climate change.

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Persistent places update: Groups come together to define and map climate change in Colorado’s public lands

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Persistent places update: Groups come together to define and map climate change in Colorado’s public lands Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/28/2022 - 00:00

Shelly Sommer

A convergence research project is uniting land managers, local residents, and scientists to jointly understand how Colorado Front Range ecosystems and public lands are responding to pressures from people and climate change.

The project brings together diverse groups with a stake in the Front Range public lands around the concept of climate-change refugia. Refugia (Latin for refuges), are units of a landscape that can maintain valued characteristics despite pressures such as climate change.

“Many of the things people appreciate and like about public lands and open space are things like shade along trails, or cooler temperatures on hot days,” says Keith Musselman, lead investigator on the project and a Research Associate at INSTAAR. “These attributes are related to the science of ecosystems, soil, water, climate—but scientists often don’t think of these systems in terms of the experiences they give to people.”

“The idea is to understand what people value about our public lands; what decision makers think about when they manage these lands; and what scientists consider when they look at the ecosystems, landscape, and climate processes in these same places,” says Musselman.

July 2020. Team members construct elevated track for the future EcoTram. It will be a 120 meter (394 foot) long moving platform focused on monitoring water, energy, & vegetation gradients to inform climate refugia predictions.

By bringing together such diverse stakeholders, the project is helping identify land management needs and challenges. It will also map places that are buffered from climate change—the refugia—as well as places that are at risk, or already altered. That can give land managers information they can use to decide where to invest resources.

“Colorado will face some tough choices in the coming years and decades. We’re experiencing a growing population, increasing use of public lands, as well as the threats of climate change. It is important for the residents of Colorado to have a voice in how we set priorities as we look into the future,” says co-investigator and social scientist Amanda Carrico.

Funding for the project comes from an NSF program called Growing Convergence Research, which is intended to solve vexing and complex research problems, focusing on social needs, by merging ideas, knowledge, and approaches from different disciplines. The program is one of the NSF’s ten Big Ideas, emerging key areas in scientific research.

The NSF grant supports students at three universities and a community college, a postdoctoral scholar, and scientists from five institutions: CU �鶹ӰԺ, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Colorado Denver, University of Wyoming, and Cornell University. CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers on the project include faculty members Peter Blanken, Eve-Lyn Hinckley, John Knowles, Carrico, and Musselman, graduate students Elizabeth Woolner and Nicolas Tarasewicz, and field tech Yang Han.

The researchers prepared to tackle the project by immersing themselves in a convergence workshop facilitated by a specialist in complex leadership. “We learned how to communicate when we don’t work together, but we do work on the same problem,” says Musselman. Carrico says, “It helped us all see the big picture and see how our individual pieces fit into that.”

The science portion of the project will adapt an advanced computer model of Earth systems, initially developed for tropical regions, to the environment of the Rocky Mountains. “These models are dynamic, and simulate the growth and death of trees, how groundwater connects to surface water, how trees connect to water and when,” says Musselman.

A measurement campaign on Niwot Ridge will help scientists develop the model and test its performance. A tram system will carry environmental sensors along a track to take measurements through space and time, to better show how parts of the landscape are connected.

Residents gather in a community workshop hosted by the Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities (CSLC) at CU �鶹ӰԺ. Photo courtesy of CSLC.

At the same time, Carrico will lead efforts to measure values and priorities within the Colorado public about how to manage our public lands. She is conducting open discussions with land managers about how they are making decisions in the face of public pressures and climate change; and if and how they’re incorporating the values and priorities of the public into their decisions. Those conversations will help shape ongoing project research with land managers and local residents.

“Every community is facing really complicated decisions about land and climate,” says Carrico. “In the Front Range, how do we manage our exceptional natural environments that provide our water and other services? Data must be part of that, but science doesn’t answer what path you take—that’s a values question. I really like that this project prepares and equips scientists to approach values questions, and how values-driven questions can inform and deepen their approaches to ecosystem science and land management. That’s a really interesting intersectional question for us.”

“We’re bringing convergence research, as the NSF thinks of it, and exploring how values align with these efforts in context,” adds Musselman. “Working with local institutions on local problems—that’s something we’re all excited about.”

This story is an update of a news release from October, 2021 with a similar title: Persistent places: Groups come together to define and map climate change in Colorado’s public lands

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Image: June 2020. A multidisciplinary team walks the future site of the EcoTram, a moving monitoring platform focused on water, energy, & vegetation.

Climate change will make it hard to predict the amount of snow and water that will be available (ABC News)

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 23:40:21 +0000

Climate change will make it hard to predict the amount of snow and water that will be available (ABC News) Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 07/20/2022 - 17:40

A new study that included Will Wieder and Keith Musselman finds that snow-free seasons are expected to last longer, putting Northern Hemisphere water supplies at risk.

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Water resources to become less predictable with climate change (NCAR & UCAR News)

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Water resources to become less predictable with climate change (NCAR & UCAR News) Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/18/2022 - 00:00

Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere by later this century, according to a comprehensive new climate change study. Even regions that keep receiving the same amount of precipitation will experience more variable and unpredictable streamflow as snowpack recedes.

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Eye on Earth: What happens when mountain snow melts too fast in the spring? (CBS Denver)

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Eye on Earth: What happens when mountain snow melts too fast in the spring? (CBS Denver) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/26/2022 - 00:00

Keith Musselman was interviewed for this CBS Denver news story on the effects of climate change on deep snowpack.

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