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National Science Foundation
 
 
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About DIREnet

The Drought Impacts on Regional Ecosystems Network (DIREnet) is an effort that brings together 40 core participants to examine the ecological impacts of an ongoing, long-term drought that has affected forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States. Through the coordination and synthesis of ecological research, DIREnet seeks to address critical ecological questions about the role of extreme climatological events in shaping ecosystems and driving evolutionary trajectories. Additionally, DIREnet promotes the cross pollination of research and education through workshops, symposia, and student training. For example, DIREnet has hosted conferences for researchers and land managers to assess the impacts of the drought to foster new research and synthesize existing research. DIREnet also facilitates the exchange of research techniques and data using online tools.

Taken together, DIREnet’s efforts seek to improve understanding of how droughts impact major ecosystems and how climate change scenarios may alter drought dynamics in the future. Since 2005, DIREnet participants have authored a wide range of peer-reviewed publications that explore how warming and drought contribute to tree mortality and other ecosystem changes both regionally and globally.

Tree mortality, New Mexico, USA, 2003, Neil Cobb

DIREnet Publications

  • Allen, C. D., and D. D. Breshears. 2007. Climate-induced forest dieback as an emergent global phenomenon. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 88: 504. (pdf not available)

DIREnet Downloads

Original NSF Proposal.
 
NSF Meeting Poster Presentation

About DIREnet

© 2012 Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research
Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research
Northern Arizona University
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