Coordinated Planning of Field Station Support in the Jornada Basin, NM

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a planning effort focused on two adjacent research facilities in southern New Mexico, the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) of New Mexico State University and the Jornada Experimental Range (JER) of the Agricultural Research Service. The two boast long track records of education and research. Both were established early in the last century for research into desertification processes, semi-arid ecosystem structure and function, and management of dry rangelands. Since 1982, the NSF-funded Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research Program has carried out long-term observations and experimental manipulations on a network of sites across both properties. However, infrastructure investments have been uneven across the facilities; in particular, the CDRRC lags behind in providing basic utilities and services for visitors, researchers, and educational users. With the support of this award, CDRRC, JER, and LTER researchers and other users are initiating a joint planning program to outline and prioritize steps in upgrading services at the sites. This will include study of similar planning efforts at other sites with a mix of academic and federal ownerships, and the development of an orderly plan for locating resources and investing in site improvements. Because of its affiliation with New Mexico State University (a land grant, Hispanic-serving institution in the US-Mexico border region), the sites also serve an important training function for under-represented groups.