Stable water isotopes of precipitation across the USA and from summer and winter. Additionally isotopic data was included for river water within the Willamette River in Oregon. The d18O and d2H were previously published data (references given in the table), while the d17O values were measured on those archived samples, and published in this paper.

The late Pleistocene was a climatically dynamic period, with abrupt shifts between cool-wet and warm-dry conditions. Increased effective precipitation supported large pluvial lakes and long-lived spring ecosystems in valleys and basins throughout the western and southwestern U.S., but the source and seasonality of the precipitation are debated. Here we present stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from tooth enamel of late Pleistocene herbivores recovered from paleowetland deposits at Tule Spring Fossil Beds National Monument in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada, as well as modern herbivores from the surrounding area, to investigate whether winter or summer precipitation was responsible for driving the wet hydroclimate conditions that prevailed in the region during the late Pleistocene. Tooth enamel δ18O values for Equus, Bison, and Mammuthus are generally low (average 22.2±0.7‰, 2 s.e., VSMOW) compared to modern equids (26.1±1.0‰), and imply lower water δ18O values (–16.5 ±0.8‰) than what is observed in active springs and wells in the Las Vegas Valley (–12.9‰) or implied by modern equids and a local calibration of equid and water compositions (-12.2±1.1‰). Notably, Camelops generally yielded higher δ18O values (23.7±1.1‰), possibly suggesting drought tolerance. Mean δ13C values for the Pleistocene grazers (–6.4±0.8‰, 2 s.e., VPDB) are considerably higher than for modern equids (-10.4±0.4‰) and indicate more consumption of C4 grass (18±6%) than today 0±3%). However, calculated C4 grass consumption in the late Pleistocene is strikingly lower than the amount of C4 grass taxa currently present in the valley (55-60%) which is unexpected in the context of widespread C4 grassy patches. δ13C values in Camelops tooth enamel (-7.4±1.2‰) are interpreted as reflecting moderate consumption (16±9%) of Atriplex (saltbush), a C4 shrub that flourishes in regions with hot, dry summers. Lower water δ18O values, lower abundance of C4 grasses, and the inferred presence of Atriplex are all consistent with general circulation models that show the enhanced winter moisture delivered into the interior western U.S. during the late Pleistocene was sourced from the north Pacific, but do not support alternative models that infer enhanced summer precipitation was sourced from the tropics. In addition, we hypothesize that dietary competition between the diverse and abundant Pleistocene fauna may have driven the grazers analyzed here to feed preferentially on C4 grasses. Dietary partitoning, especially when combined with decreased pCO2 levels during the late Pleistocene, could readily explain the relatively high δ13C values observed in late Pleistocene grazers in the Las Vegas Valley and elsewhere in the southwestern U.S. without the input of additional summer precipitation as it has been interpreted previously. This suggests that Pleistocene hydroclimate parameters derived from floral records may need to be reevaluated in the context of the potential effects of dietary preferences and lower pCO2 levels on the stability of C3 vs. C4 plants.

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target modeled time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period and model (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).

Originators: US Environmental Protection Agency Publisher: US EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) Publication place: Corvallis, OR Publication date: Time Period of Data: 1900-2010; Projected data for 2041-2070. Data location: GeoPlatform ("https://www.geoplatform.gov/") and EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://edg.epa.gov/). Abstract: We apply the hydrologic landscapes (HL) concept to assess the hydrologic vulnerability of the western United States (U.S.) to projected climate conditions. Our goal is to understand the potential impacts for stakeholder-defined interests across large geographic areas. The basic assumption of the HL approach is that catchments that share similar physical and climatic characteristics are expected to have similar hydrologic characteristics. We map climate vulnerability by integrating the HL approach into a retrospective analysis of historical data to assess variability in future climate projections and hydrology, which includes temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation, climatic moisture, surplus water, and seasonality of water surplus. Projections that are not within two-standard deviations of the historical decadal average contribute to the vulnerability index for each metric. The resulting vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration are consistently projected to have high vulnerability indices for the western U.S. Precipitation vulnerability is not as spatially-uniform as temperature. The highest elevation areas with snow are projected to experience significant changes in snow accumulation. The seasonality vulnerability map shows that specific mountainous areas in the West are most prone to changes in seasonality, whereas many transitional terrains are moderately susceptible. This paper illustrates how the HL approach can help assess climatic and hydrologic vulnerability across large spatial scales. By combining the HL concept and climate vulnerability analyses, we provide a planning approach that could allow resource managers to consider how future climate conditions may impact important economic and conservation resources. Purpose: These data were created in support of the US EPA’s ACE CIVA 2.3, Task Project (QAPP: E-WED-0030854). However, these climate data and hydrologic landscape summaries should have broad applicability for hydrological, geomorphic, or ecological modeling, management, and restoration. This raster contains the modeled change in the seasonality of the month of maximum surplus precipitation between the target time period (in title) and the 1971-2000 Normal period (1 = same season, 0 = earlier season, 2 = later season).