Wind River Research Articles

Towards Comprehensive Observing and Modeling Systems for Monitoring and Predicting Regional to Coastal Sea Level

A major challenge for managing impacts and implementing effective mitigation and adaptation strategies for coastal zones affected by future sea level (SL) rise is our very limited capacity to predict SL change on coastal scales, over various timescales. Predicting coastal SL requires the ability to monitor and simulate a multitude of physical processes affecting SL, from local effects of wind waves and river runoff to remote influences of the large-scale ocean circulation on the coast. Here we assess our current understanding of the causes of coastal SL variability on seasonal to multi-decadal timescales, including geodetic, oceanographic and atmospheric aspects of the problem, and review available observing systems informing on coastal SL. We also review the ability of current models and data assimilation systems to estimate coastal SL variations and of atmosphere-ocean global coupled models and related regional downscaling efforts to project future SL changes. We discuss (1) key observational gaps and uncertainties, and priorities for the development of an optimal and integrated coastal SL observing system, (2) strategies for advancing model capabilities in forecasting short-term processes and projecting long-term changes affecting coastal SL, and (3) possible future developments of sea level services enabling better connection of scientists and user communities and facilitating assessment and decision making for adaptation to future coastal SL change.

Hydrodynamic time parameters response to meteorological and physical forcings: toward a stagnation risk assessment device in coastal areas

Identifying zones of stagnation and deposition of terrigenous matter or contaminants induced by human activity is a key issue in coastal areas. In this paper, circulation processes and potential contaminant stagnation and deposition zones were assessed using hydrodynamic time parameters forced with meteorology. The study focused on an Eulerian time parameter, the local e-flushing time (eFT). The hydrodynamic modeling of coastal zones was applied to two bays of New Caledonia, located downstream of open mining sites. Numerous simulations were performed to classify the influence of forcing conditions on the eFT variability. The need to consider meteorological forcings rather than average weather conditions for the calculation of eFTs was demonstrated. In coastal zones, high wind velocity was the major forcing influencing eFTs, but below a threshold wind velocity, tidal range and river inputs became significant parameters. Spatial variations of eFT values, depending on meteorological conditions, induced varying risks of stagnation zones. General responses of the bays’ hydrodynamics and the exposure of zones to potential contaminants were defined under various forcings. Our findings demonstrate that strong turbulence zones are not always characterized by short eFTs because of antagonistic forcing effects. Diurnal tidal alternations were also proven to have less influence on eFT variations than tidal range changes over a lunar cycle.

Endemism in Wyoming plant and insect herbivore communities during the early Eocene hothouse

AbstractThe warm, equable, and ice-free early Eocene Epoch permits investigation of ecosystem function and macro-ecological patterns during a very different climate regime than exists today. It also provides insight into what the future may entail, as anthropogenic CO2release drives Earth toward a comparable hothouse condition. Studying plant–insect herbivore food webs during hothouse intervals is warranted, because these account for the majority of nonmicrobial terrestrial biodiversity. Here, we report new plant and insect herbivore damage census data from two floodplain sites in the Wind River Basin of central Wyoming, one in the Aycross Formation (50–48.25 Ma) at the basin edge (WRE) and the second in the Wind River Formation in the interior of the basin (WRI). The WRI site is in stratigraphic proximity to a volcanic ash that is newly dated to 52.416 ± 0.016/0.028/0.063 (2σ). We compare the Wind River Basin assemblages to published data from a 52.65 Ma floodplain flora in the neighboring Bighorn (BH) Basin and find that only 5.6% of plant taxa occur at all three sites and approximately 10% occur in both basins. The dissimilar floras support distinct suites of insect herbivores, as recorded by leaf damage. The relatively low-diversity BH flora has the highest diversity of insect damage, contrary to hypotheses that insect herbivore diversity tracks floral diversity. The distinctiveness of the WRE flora is likely due to its younger age and cooler reconstructed paleotemperature, but these factors are nearly identical for the WRI and BH floras. Site-specific microenvironmental factors that cannot be measured easily in deep time may account for these differences. Alternatively, the Owl Creek Mountains between the two basins may have provided a formidable barrier to the thermophilic organisms that inhabited the basin interiors, supporting Janzen's hypothesis that mountain passes appear higher in tropical environments.

Predictive models for the deep geometry of a thick-skinned thrust matched to crustal structure: Wind River Range, western USA

AbstractThe ability of models designed to use near-surface structural information to predict the deep geometry of a faulted block is tested for a thick-skinned thrust by matching the surface geometry to the crustal structure beneath the Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA. The Wind River Range is an ∼100-km-wide, thick-skinned rotated basement block bounded on one side by a high-angle reverse fault. The availability of a deep seismic-reflection profile and a detailed crustal impedance profile based on teleseismic receiver-function analysis makes this location ideal for testing techniques used to predict the deep fault geometry from shallow data. The techniques applied are the kinematic models for a circular-arc fault, oblique simple-shear fault, shear fault-bend fold, and model-independent excess area balancing. All the kinematic models imply that the deformation cannot be exclusively rigid-body rotation but rather require distributed deformation throughout some or all of the basement. Both the circular-arc model and the oblique-shear models give nearly the same best fit to the master fault geometry. The predicted lower detachment matches a potential crustal detachment zone at 31 km subsea. The thrust ramp is located close to where this zone dies out to the southwest. The circular-arc model implies that the penetrative deformation could be focused at the trailing edge of the basement block rather than being distributed uniformly throughout and thus helps to explain the line of second-order anticlines along the trailing edge of the Wind River block.Key points: (1) The circular-arc fault model and the oblique-shear model predict a lower detachment for the Wind River rotated block to be ∼31 km subsea, consistent with the crustal structure as defined by teleseismic receiver-function analysis. The thrust ramp starts where this zone dies out. (2) The kinematic models require distributed internal deformation within the basement block, probably concentrated at the trailing edge. (3) The uplift at the trailing edge of the rotated block is explained by the circular-arc kinematic model as a requirement to maintain area balance of a mostly rigid block above a horizontal detachment; the oblique-shear model can explain the uplift as caused by displacement on a dipping detachment.

Topographic Map Interpretation of Bighorn River-Wind River Drainage Divide Located East of Wyoming's Wind River Canyon, USA

Detailed topographic map evidence is used to test the ability of two fundamentally different regional geomorphology paradigms to explain Bighorn-Wind River drainage divide evidence in the Copper and Lysite Mountain areas between Wind River Canyon and the Bighorn Mountains. Identified divide crossings were interpreted to be places where water had once flowed across what is now a major drainage divide. More than 20 such divide crossings were identified and ranged in elevation from 1924 to 2485 meters and could all be linked to north-oriented Bighorn River tributaries and also to south-oriented streams flowing to west-oriented Badwater Creek (a Wind River tributary). Lowest elevation divide crossings were located to the north of both Copper Mountain and Lysite Mountain. An attempt was first made to explain each identified divide crossing or group of divide crossings from the accepted paradigm's perspective, which requires drainage routes to have originated on the surface of a hypothesized Oligocene and Miocene sediment cover that buried the drainage divide area with the drainage routes eroding down through the sediment cover as the drainage divide was exhumed. Next the same evidence was interpreted from a recently proposed paradigm's perspective, which requires massive south- and southeast-oriented floods to have flowed across the Missouri River drainage basin as mountain ranges and plateau areas were being uplifted. The accepted paradigm could not easily explain the large number of observed divide crossings, many divide crossing details, and why geologic maps show few or no hypothesized sediment cover remnants. The new paradigm explained the large number of observed divide crossing and most observed divide crossing details and did not require an Oligocene and Miocene sedimentary cover.

Linking tree physiological constraints with predictions of carbon and water fluxes at an old‐growth coniferous forest

AbstractOld‐growth coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest are among the most productive temperate ecosystems and have the capacity to store large amounts of carbon for multiple centuries. To date, there are considerable gaps in modeling ecosystem fluxes and their responses to physiological constraints in these old‐growth forests. These model shortcomings limit our ability to understand and project how the old‐growth forests of the Pacific Northwest will respond to global climate change. This study applies the cohort‐based Ecosystem Demography Model 2 (ED2) to the Wind River Experimental Forest (Washington, USA), a well‐studied old‐growth Douglas‐fir–western hemlock ecosystem. ED2 is calibrated and validated using an extensive suite of forest inventory, eddy covariance, and biophysical observations. ED2 is able to reproduce observed forest composition and canopy structure, and carbon, water, and energy fluxes at the site. In the simulations, the effect of limited water supply on ecosystem carbon fluxes is mediated primarily by the forest's gross primary productivity (GPP) response, rather than its heterotrophic respiration response. The simulation indicates that stomatal conductance is mainly determined by soil moisture during periods of low vapor pressure deficit (VPD). However, when VPD is high, stomatal conductance is greatly reduced regardless of soil moisture status. During summer droughts, reduced soil moisture and increased VPD result in considerable stomatal closure and GPP reduction, which in turn decreases net carbon uptake. Cohort‐based scheme integrates all canopy layers (species) that have distinct sensitivity to microclimate and respond distinctly to drought. This study is an initial first step to explore the potential importance of cohort‐based model in simulating forest with complex structure, and to lay the foundation for applying cohort‐based model at regional scales across the Pacific Northwest.

Assessing health impacts of home food gardens with Wind River Indian Reservation families: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

IntroductionThis community-based participatory research, Growing Resilience, will be the first full-scale randomised controlled trial we have identified that is designed to evaluate impacts of home gardening on family health. It...

Reflections on an ethnographic project with elementary educators on the Wind River Reservation: A cautionary tale

AbstractIn this article, I analyze the successes and challenges of the first year of a four‐year applied anthropology project conducted on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation intended to help mostly white educators of Arapaho children who develop culturally relevant classroom pedagogy. Educators of Arapaho children have expressed concerns that student achievement is low, but also that the curriculum is largely disconnected from student backgrounds and experiences. Following deficit models, non‐Indian educators have historically cast American Indian schooling to reflect the norms and expectations constructed by the white dominant group. In contrast, in this study teachers were taught anthropological methods to conduct fieldwork in the households of children they taught. Teachers successfully documented historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well‐being. Teacher's ethnographic research fostered trust between school and families, and bridged communities to classrooms. On the other hand, pedagogical paradigms remained largely aligned with preexisting schooled programs, culturally relevant pedagogy existing as an add‐on but not inextricably embedded within the curriculum.

Late summer glacial meltwater contributions to Bull Lake Creek stream flow and water quality, Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA

ABSTRACTThe Wind River Range in Wyoming contains more glacial ice than any other location within the USA’s Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Bull Lake Creek watershed in the southeast portion of the range contains five major (0.6–1.5 km2) glaciers along with numerous smaller glaciers that contribute to the Wind River. Field measurements were made of discharge from the Knife Point and Bull Lake Glaciers to determine the contribution of glacial meltwater to the river system. Water samples were collected and analyzed for stable isotopes, major ions, nutrients, and selected trace elements. Meltwater from the two glaciers contributed 13.9% to Bull Lake Creek streamflow (site BL-3), with all glaciers within the Bull Lake Creek watershed estimated to be contributing 55.6% to the streamflow of Bull Lake Creek (United States Geological Survey gage) during the August 2015 study period. Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope analysis indicated as much as 80% of late summer discharge in the upper Bull Lake Creek watershed was attributed to glacial meltwater. This study also found that nutrients (NO3 – NO2, total P) from glacial meltwater can be a significant source of nutrient loading to Bull Lake Creek.

Optimal discharge locations to refill hydric reservoirs with reused water - application to the jaunay lake case study

In this work, we study optimal strategies of wastewater reuse for refilling Jaunay Lake (a water reservoir located on the French western coast) which shows an alarming volume reduction due to the human water intake. To grasp the multiple issues to ascertain the appropriate location for the reused water discharge, mathematical modelling is particularly adapted for testing different conditions (physical, meteorological) and optimizing the system to achieve targets (maximum allowable concentration of pollutant for drinking water and recreational uses). We focus on modelling the distribution of a generic pollutant in the reservoir, which is expected to vary with time and space. The model assumes that the reservoir volume stays constant (because the flow rates at the refilling and removal points are considered to be quasi-identical), the density of the pollutant is smaller than that of the reservoir water (so that the pollutant remains at the top level of the water column) and its dynamics is influenced by two main effects: wind and water currents. The model accounts for the reservoir geometry, the operating conditions of the transfer pipes (input and output) and real data regarding chronicles of wind velocity and river flow. Then, we tackle a multi-optimization problem which aims to find optimal refilling locations which reduce the pollutant concentration at two strategic regions of the reservoir. A Pareto front is presented as a decision-tool to choose the optimal strategy according to different water quality criteria.

Use of Topographic Map Evidence to Test a Recently Proposed Regional Geomorphology Paradigm: Wind River-Sweetwater River Drainage Divide Area, Central Wyoming, USA

Topographic map evidence from the Wyoming Wind River-Sweetwater River drainage divide area is used to test a recently proposed regional geomorphology paradigm defined by massive south- and southeast-oriented continental ice sheet melt water floods that flowed across the entire Missouri River drainage basin. The new paradigm forces recognition of an ice sheet created and occupied deep “hole” and is fundamentally different from the commonly accepted paradigm in which a pre-glacial north- and northeast-oriented slope would have prevented continental ice sheet melt water from reaching or crossing the Wind River-Sweetwater River drainage divide. Divide crossings (or low points) are identified as places where water once flowed across the drainage divide. Map evidence is interpreted first from the accepted paradigm perspective and second from the new paradigm perspective to determine the simplest explanation. Both paradigm perspectives suggest south-oriented water crossed the drainage divide, although accepted paradigm interpretations do not satisfactorily explain the large number of observed divide crossings and are complicated by the need to bury the Owl Creek and Bridger Mountains to explain why the Wind River now flows in a north direction through Wind River Canyon. New paradigm interpretations explain the large number of divide crossings as diverging and converging channel evidence (as in flood-formed anastomosing channel complexes), Owl Creek and Bridger Mountain uplift to have occurred as south-oriented floodwaters carved Wind River Canyon, and a major flood flow reversal (caused by ice sheet related crustal warping and the opening up of deep “hole” space by ice sheet melting) as being responsible for the Wind River abrupt turn to the north. While this test only addresses topographic map evidence, Occam’s Razor suggests the new paradigm offers what in science should be the preferred Wind River-Sweetwater River drainage divide origin interpretations.

Growing intergenerational resilience for Indigenous food sovereignty through home gardening.

As a community-based participatory research project designed to promote health and wellbeing, Growing Resilience supports home gardens for 96 primarily Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho families in the Wind River Reservation, located in Wyoming. Through analysis of data from two years of qualitative fieldwork, including stories told by 53 gardeners and members of the project’s community advisory board in talking circles and through our novel sovereign storytelling method, we investigated if and how these participants employ relationships, knowledge, and practices across generations through home gardening. We find that participants describe home gardening within present, past, future, and cross-generational frames, rooted in family relationships and knowledge shared across generations. Our analysis of these themes suggests that gardening provides families a means to transmit resilience across generations or, as we call it here, intergenerational resilience. We conclude by discussing intergenerational resilience as a culturally specific mechanism of social-ecological community resilience that may be particularly relevant in Indigenous movements for food sovereignty.

Agriculture Resource Management Planning on the Wind River Indian Reservation: An Integrative Approach

The Wind River Indian Reservation undertook the development of an agricultural resource management plan in 2015. The reservation is 8903 sq.km of which 63% is in crop and grazing lands. This project’s aim was to create a community-based integrated plan. A series of community meetings identified 83 issues and topics relating to agricultural development on the reservation. Using information from community meetings, the final agricultural resource management plan consists of 9 major elements, with 12 goals, 46 objectives and 88 policies. Three key issues are addressed in the plan: provide the reservation with a plan that leads to self-management of their agricultural resources; integrate the major agricultural elements as defined by the community into policies; and, create a governance structure that fosters agricultural development into the future.

Kū Hou Kuapā: Cultural Restoration Improves Water Budget and Water Quality Dynamics in Heʻeia Fishpond

In Hawaiʻi, the transition from customary subsistence flooded taro agroecosystems, which regulate stream discharge rate trapping sediment and nutrients, to a plantation-style economy (c. the 1840s) led to nearshore sediment deposition—smothering coral reefs and destroying adjacent coastal fisheries and customary fishpond mariculture. To mitigate sediment transport, Rhizophora mangle was introduced in estuaries across Hawaiʻi (c. 1902) further altering fishpond ecosystems. Here, we examine the impact of cultural restoration between 2012–2018 at Heʻeia Fishpond, a 600–800-year-old walled fishpond. Fishpond water quality was assessed by calculating water exchange rates, residence times, salinity distribution, and abundance of microbial indicators prior to and after restoration. We hypothesized that R. mangle removal and concomitant reconstruction of sluice gates would increase mixing and decrease bacterial indicator abundance in the fishpond. We find that Heʻeia Fishpond’s physical environment is primarily tidally driven; wind forcing and river water volume flux are secondary drivers. Post-restoration, two sluice gates in the northeastern region account for >80% of relative water volume flux in the fishpond. Increase in water volume flux exchange rates during spring and neap tide and shorter minimum water residence time corresponded with the reconstruction of a partially obstructed 56 m gap together with the installation of an additional sluice gate in the fishpond wall. Lower mean salinities post-restoration suggests that increased freshwater water volume influx due to R. mangle removal. Spatial distribution of microbial bio-indicator species was inversely correlated with salinity. Average abundance of Enterococcus and Bacteroidales did not significantly change after restoration efforts, however, average abundance of a biomarker specific to birds nesting in the mangroves decreased significantly after restoration. This study demonstrates the positive impact of biocultural restoration regimes on water volume flux into and out of the fishpond, as well as water quality parameters, encouraging the prospect of revitalizing this and other culturally and economically significant sites for sustainable aquaculture in the future.

An inventory and assessment of glaciers, rock glaciers, perennial snowfields, and permafrost landforms in the Teton Range, WY, USA

Glaciers, rock glaciers, and permafrost landforms store water within ice reserves in alpine and periglacial zones. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of northwestern Wyoming, U.S.A., these landforms charge the hydrological system through meltwater, which raises questions about the ecological impacts of these limited water reserves in a regime trending toward warmer and drier conditions. Here, I investigate the impact of glacier and rock glacier meltwater on the ecological systems within the Grand Teton, Wind River, and Gros Ventre mountain watersheds. This investigation relies on remotely sensed satellite imagery, aerial photography, and Lidar, as well as in situ field data. With these data, I provide a high-resolution inventory of glacial, rock glacial, and permafrost landforms in the GYE.
 
 Featured photo by Grand Teton on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/2hwtrRb

Factors influencing amphibian distributions in Grand Teton National Park and western Wyoming

Predicting the distribution of amphibians can be difficult because habitat suitability may depend on a variety of environmental and anthropogenic factors, including water quality of wetlands, geology of watersheds, and presence of invasive pathogens. Previous studies hypothesized that water chemistry may influence the rate of chytrid infection in amphibians where higher conductivity sites may have less infection. We sampled two watersheds in Grand Teton National Park and 3 watersheds adjacent to the park, and measured amphibian presence, chytrid infection, basic water quality, major ion concentrations and geology of the wetland. This is part of a larger project where we are comparing amphibian presence and infection rate among wetlands in the Gros Ventre, Wind River, and Teton Ranges. We sampled watersheds that were predominately limestone, granite or a mixture. Water quality varied among sites with higher conductivity and ion concentrations for limestone watersheds compared to granite watersheds. This report includes preliminary results of amphibian surveys and water quality analyses. Future analyses will relate occupancy rates of amphibians to environmental factors, including water chemistry, geology, and presence of chytrid fungus, as well as comparing detection rates of amphibians with environmental DNA (eDNA) and visual observation surveys.
 
 Featured photo by Neal Herbert on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/2gv9PJA

Wind River Teams Up with Renesas

Wind River Teams Up with Renesas

The Work Arts and Crafts Do

This essay forms part of a suite of papers focused on work and belonging on the Wind River Reservation. This essay attempts to interrogate multiple meanings attached to work, by Native people and non-Indians, and across multiple work environments.

Geomorphic regulation of floodplain soil organic carbon concentration in watersheds of the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, USA

Abstract. Mountain rivers have the potential to retain OC-rich soil and store large quantities of organic carbon (OC) in floodplain soils. We characterize valley bottom morphology, floodplain soil, and vegetation in two disparate mountain river basins: the Middle Fork Snoqualmie in the Cascade Mountains and the Big Sandy in the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains. We use this dataset to examine variability in OC concentration between these basins as well as within them at multiple spatial scales. We find that although there are some differences between basins, much of the variability in OC concentration is due to local factors, such as soil moisture and valley bottom geometry. From this, we conclude that local factors likely play a dominant role in regulating OC concentration in valley bottoms and that interbasin differences in climate or vegetation characteristics may not translate directly into differences in OC storage. We also use an analysis of OC concentration and soil texture by depth to infer that OC is input to floodplain soils mainly by decaying vegetation, not overbank deposition of fine, OC-bearing sediment. Geomorphology and hydrology play strong roles in determining the spatial distribution of soil OC in mountain river corridors.

Genetic tagging is an effective way to monitor survival of released hatchery saugers: Conservation efforts in the Wind River, Wyoming

ABSTRACTReleased hatchery-origin fish must survive and reproduce for supplementation to recover collapsed native populations, yet monitoring fitness is challenging, because physical tags are not passed from parent to offspring. Parentage-based tagging (PBT) is a method in which all captive-bred parents are genotyped (i.e., given a molecular tag), and their wild-caught hatchery offspring are identified via genetic pedigree analysis. The sauger (Sander canadensis) is a highly migratory, freshwater percid (perch species), native to central and eastern North America. In the Wind River basin, Wyoming the species’ abundance has declined considerably since 2002, and in 2013 stakeholders initiated a hatchery program to recover the population. We estimated the statistical sensitivity and accuracy of PBT using 17 microsatellites to identify hatchery-origin saugers captured in the wild. We completed in vitro and in silico experiments that demonstrated 98% sensitivity and 99% accuracy of PBT in distinguishing hatcher...