CEMML Research

Research is one of the primary missions of the Center. Our diverse staff of scientists conducts research on the ecology,  hydrology, natural and cultural resources, and management of military training and testing lands. Our expertise covers a wide
range of ecosystems throughout the 48 contiguous States, Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Korea and Central America.

While all the assets of the College of Natural Resources are available to CEMML, the Center also forms research teams with other units within CSU, private consulting firms, state and federal agencies, and industry. Past and ongoing research investigates:

• Impacts of military training on vegetation, soils, and watersheds
• Resource carrying capacity
• Economic analysis of training land management
• Restoration ecology
• Plant systematics and population biology
• Threatened and endangered species ecology and management
• Conservation biology
• Biodiversity
• Fire ecology
• Plant community delineation and analysis

Following are the results of a few of the studies the Center has carried out:

• A rare plant, Haplopappus fremontii ssp. monocephalus, was shown to increase under tracked vehicle training at Pinyon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS), Colorado. The species was subsequently downlisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Also at PCMS, range rehabilitation practices were found to be ineffective and were halted.
• Two plant species previously thought extinct, and a third not recorded since 1890, were found on Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), Hawaii . Data collected on two other rare species at PTA contributed to their downlisting by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• A decrease in the number of trees, used as concealment in training exercises, was documented at Fort Carson. A tree planting program was initiated to mitigate this impact.
• The capacity of the land to withstand military training has been estimated at several installations and used to integrate training activities and natural resource protection.
• Watershed modeling of Army training areas: Erosion and degradation of water quality in adjoining watercourses are a major environmental concern for land managers at Army installations and training areas. Development of advanced technologies in watershed modeling and geographic information systems can provide land managers with a capability to visualize and more fully understand the effects of large scale maneuvers on watershed response. The CASC2D hydrologic model, developed at Colorado State University (CSU), has been integrated with GRASS and the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) through cooperative efforts by researchers at CSU, the University of Connecticut, USACERL and USAWES. Initial applications of CASC2D in 1992 to the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) in Colorado demonstrated the capability to model the effects of multiple maneuver scenarios on rainfall-runoff relationships. Follow-on field work and modeling efforts have expanded this application to other watersheds in Army training areas, to include PCMS and Yakima Training Center. Individuals or agencies interested in the results of this research should contact Dr. Steven Warren, CEMML.

Some on-going research examples are listed below, along with resulting publications.


Impacts of Military Training and Testing

Jones, D.S. and C.F. Bagley. 1997. Tracked military vehicle impacts on three vegetation communities at Yakima Training Center, WA: Results for the 1994-1996 study period. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 97-4.

Doe, W.W., III, P.Y. Julien and F.L. Ogden. 1997. Maneuversheds and watersheds: Modeling the hydrologic effects of mechanized training on military lands. Proceedings, 1997 American Water Resources Assoc. Summer Symposium, Keystone, CO.

Milchunas, D.G., K.A. Schulz and R.B. Shaw. 1999. Plant community response to disturbance by mechanized military maneuvers. J. Environ. Qual. 28:1533-1547.

Land Rehabilitation, Reclamation and Restoration

Bern, C.M. and R.B. Shaw (editors). 1993. Maintenance and repair of military training lands. Proceedings of the Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance Symposium, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, September 1992. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 93-1.

Tucker, J.L., D.B. Rideout and R.B. Shaw. 1998. Using linear programming to optimize rehabilitation and restoration of injured lands: an application to U.S. Army training sites. J. Environ. Manage. 52:173-182.

Military Land Management

Milchunas, D.G. and R.B. Shaw. 1998. A Guide for Performing Analysis of Covariance on LCTA Plot Data. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 98-4.

Doe, W.W., III, and W.L. Sprouse, D.S. Jones, C.M. Bern, and B.K. Herl. 1999. U.S. Army Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) CourseWare, prepared in CD-ROM format and in Web-based format, U.S. Army Environmental Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Doe, W.W., R.B. Shaw, R.G. Bailey, D. J. Jones and T. Macia. 1999. Locations and environments of U.S. Army training & testing lands: an ecoregional framework for assessment. Federal Facilities Environ. J. (in press)

Soil Erosion Modeling

Jones, D.S., D.G. Kowalski and R. B. Shaw. 1996. Calculating Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) estimates on Department of Defense lands. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 96-8.

Harrison, J.S. and W.W. Doe, III. 1997. Erosion modeling in Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site using the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the GIS system-GRASS. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 97-21.

Doe, W.W., III, D.S. Jones, and S.D. Warren. 1999. Soil erosion model guide for military lands: analysis of erosion models for natural and cultural resources applications. Tri-Service CADD/GIS Technology Center Report , U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. http://tsc.wes.army.mil..

Plant Ecology

Halward, T.M., T. Lowrey, K.A. Schulz and R.B. Shaw. 1996. Germination requirements and genetic diversity in Croton alabamensis var. texensis. Pages 146-157, Proceedings of the Second Southwestern Rare and Endangered Plant Conference. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-283.

Halward, T.M. and R.B. Shaw. 1996. Germination requirements of an endangered Hawaiian plant species, Silene lanceolata, as related to conservation. Natural Areas J. 16:335-343.

Milchunas, D.G., K.A. Schulz and R.B. Shaw. 1999. Community responses to shift in land-use management and disturbance regime: livestock grazing to mechanized military maneuvers. Environ. Manage. (in press)

Soil Ecology

Pendleton, R.L., B.K. Pendleton, S.D. Warren and G.L. Howard. 1999. Effects of microbiotic soil crust organisms and mycorrhizal fungi on seedling growth of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima). U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories Technical Report 99/(in press)

Warren, S.D. 2000. Biological soil crusts and water relations in North American deserts. : J. Belnap and O.L. Lange (eds), Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function and Management. Springer-Verlag. (in preparation ).

Warren, S.D. and D.J. Eldridge. 2000. Livestock use and biological soil crusts in desert landscapes: can they be compatible. In: J. Belnap and O.L. Lange (eds), Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function and Management. Springer-Verlag. (in preparation).

Threatened and Endangered Species

Schulz, K.A. and R.B. Shaw. 1992. Status of Haplopappus fremontii A.Gray spp. monocephalus (A. Nelson) Hall [Asteraceae] in Colorado. Prairie Naturalist 24:143-148.

Popolizio, C.A., B.F. Close, P.P Douglas, N.E. Hasting, R.B. Shaw, and R.J. Brozka. 1996. Rare and Endangered Plant Survey, Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 95-9.

Douglas, P.P., K.A. Schulz, R.B. Brozka, and R.B. Shaw. 1995. Survey for Spiranthes diluvialis at Fort Carson, Colorado. CEMML Tech. Pub. Ser. 95-2.

Remote Sensing

Senseman, G.M., C.F. Bagley, and S.A. Tweddale. 1996. Correlation of rangeland cover measures to satellite imagery-derived vegetation indices. Geocarto International 11(3):29-38.

Point of Contact: Cal Bagley, (970) 491-3324, Calvin.Bagley@ColoState.EDU

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