In August 2023, a large microburst storm event toppled a large number of saguaros in Saguaro National Park's Tucson Mountain District (TMD). Hundreds of saguaros were killed or damaged in the initial event. Two surveys, one in 2023 and a follow-up in 2025 mapped and recorded data from greater than 2000 saguaros impacted by the windthrow of August 2023.This data set contains relevant data from the Saguaro National Park Blow Down Study.

,This data package contains annual measurements of vegetation canopy and basal gap sizes from transects at the Connectivity Modifier (Conmod) Pilot study on the Jornada Experimental Range from 2008-2016. There were 3 sites for this study: Gravelly Ridges, Aeolian, and Dona Ana. Within each site, there were 8 study plots, 4 of which were treatment plots where connectivity modules (conmods) were installed to decrease gap sizes between perennial vegetation. The plots were 8 x 8 meters and had an 8 x 8 meter buffer zone on both sides of the plot (upwind and downwind). Beginning in 2008, vegetation canopy and basal gap sizes were collected annually in all plots using the gap intercept method. These data were collected in 2008-2010, 2012 and 2016. At each plot, four parallel 24-meter transects crossing the upwind buffer, the plot, and the downwind buffer were measured. These parallel transects were spaced at 0.8, 2.8, 4.3, and 7.2 meter intervals across the plot and buffer areas. This study is complete (finished in 2016) and was the pilot study to the newer Cross Scale Interactions Study.,,

,Spatial data on soils, land use, and topography, combined with knowledge of conservation effectiveness can be used to identify alternatives to reduce nutrient discharge from small watersheds. This database was developed to be used in conjunction with the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework Toolkit.,Data comprise soil survey information and land use. Soil characterization data were extracted from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey (Soil Survey Staff, 2013). Land use coverages were developed to represent agricultural fields and the types and rotations of agricultural crops and other land cover types. Land use boundaries were produced by editing a publicly available USDA field boundaries dataset (pre-2008), with all ownership and county-level attributes removed. To ensure these field polygons were consistent with recent land use, the 2009 Cropland Data Layer (USDA-NASS, 2013) was examined for all fields larger than 16 ha. For those fields with multiple cover types, 2009 National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial photography was used as a basis to manually edit field boundaries. A field was considered to have multiple cover types and was edited if the dominant cover occupied <75% of the field, as indicated by the 2009 Cropland Data Layer. Updated field boundaries were then overlaid with data from USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service (2013) Cropland Data Layer for 2000 – 2014, and each field was classified to represent crop rotations and land cover using the most recent six-year (2009-2014) sequence of land cover. Six-year land-cover strings (e.g., corn-corn-soybean-corn-soybean-corn) generated for each field were classified to represent major crop rotations, which were dominantly comprised of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) annual row crops.,,The database does not include high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from LiDAR (light detection and ranging) survey data, although these are needed by the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework Toolkit and must be obtained independently.,Database is scheduled to become available on October 1, 2015.,

,This data package contains annual measurements of vegetation cover, species, and height from transects at the Connectivity Modifier (Conmod) Pilot study on the Jornada Experimental Range from 2008-2016. There were 3 sites for this study: Gravelly Ridges, Aeolian, and Dona Ana. Within each site, there were 8 study plots, 4 of which were treatment plots where connectivity modules (conmods) were installed to decrease gap sizes between perennial vegetation. The plots were 8 x 8 meters and had an 8 x 8 meter buffer zone on both sides of the plot (upwind and downwind). Beginning in 2008, vegetation cover by species, and vegetation heights were collected annually in all plots using the line-point intercept method. These data were collected in 2008-2010, 2012 and 2016. At each plot, four parallel 24-meter transects crossing the upwind buffer, the plot, and the downwind buffer were measured. These parallel transects were spaced at 0.8, 2.8, 4.3, and 7.2 meter intervals across the plot and buffer areas. Vegetation cover and height were read at points arranged at 25 centimeter increments along each transect. This study is complete (finished in 2016) and was the pilot study to the newer Cross Scale Interactions Study.,,

These data represent simulated ecological drought conditions for current climate, and for future climate represented by all available climate models at two time periods during the 21st century. These data were used to: 1) describe geographic patterns in ecological drought under historical climate conditions, 2) quantify the direction and magnitude of change in ecological drought, 3) identify areas and ecological drought metrics with projected changes that are robust across climate models, defined as drought metrics and locations where >90% of climate models agree in the direction of change.

These data were compiled for assessing how geomorphic changes measured as topographic differences from repeat surveys represent measured and modelled estimates of aeolian sediment transport and dune mobility. Objective(s) of our study were to investigate whether topographic changes can serve as a proxy for aeolian transport and sediment mobility in dunefield environments. This was accomplished by relating topographic changes to modeled and observed estimates of sediment transport and dune mobility over months to decades within a partially vegetated dunefield starved of upwind sediment supplies. We specifically tested if topographic changes measured as net and total volume changes and topographic surface roughness differences provide evidence for intra-annual differences and decadal changes in sediment mobility for dune sand that is either currently bare, vegetated, or biocrust-covered. Lastly, these data were used as a framework for interpreting how aeolian transport and sediment mobility has changed for current land cover types over the preceding four decades. These data represent monthly topographic surveys and in-field sediment transport data collected between February 13, 2020 and December 16, 2020, piloted aerial imagery collected in 1984, 2002, 2009, 2013, and 2021, unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery collected in March 2021, classification of land cover, and tabular summaries of topographic changes derived from these datasets. These data were collected between 1984 and 2021 within a small aeolian dunefield near the confluence of the Paria and Colorado Rivers, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. These data can be used to 1) to evaluate how dune surfaces with bare sand, sand with vegetated cover, and sand with biological soil crust cover (biocrust) change on a monthly time scale with differences in wind strength and 2) assess how the dunefield surface changed with vegetation loss and expansion over almost 4 decades. Additionally, these data could be used to assess detailed changes in landscape cover over monthly and decadal time scales.

These data were compiled for assessing how geomorphic changes measured as topographic differences from repeat surveys represent measured and modelled estimates of aeolian sediment transport and dune mobility. Objective(s) of our study were to investigate whether topographic changes can serve as a proxy for aeolian transport and sediment mobility in dunefield environments. This was accomplished by relating topographic changes to modeled and observed estimates of sediment transport and dune mobility over months to decades within a partially vegetated dunefield starved of upwind sediment supplies. We specifically tested if topographic changes measured as net and total volume changes and topographic surface roughness differences provide evidence for intra-annual differences and decadal changes in sediment mobility for dune sand that is either currently bare, vegetated, or biocrust-covered. Lastly, these data were used as a framework for interpreting how aeolian transport and sediment mobility has changed for current land cover types over the preceding four decades. These data represent monthly topographic surveys and in-field sediment transport data collected between February 13, 2020 and December 16, 2020, piloted aerial imagery collected in 1984, 2002, 2009, 2013, and 2021, unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery collected in March 2021, classification of land cover, and tabular summaries of topographic changes derived from these datasets. These data were collected between 1984 and 2021 within a small aeolian dunefield near the confluence of the Paria and Colorado Rivers, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. These data can be used to 1) to evaluate how dune surfaces with bare sand, sand with vegetated cover, and sand with biological soil crust cover (biocrust) change on a monthly time scale with differences in wind strength and 2) assess how the dunefield surface changed with vegetation loss and expansion over almost 4 decades. Additionally, these data could be used to assess detailed changes in landscape cover over monthly and decadal time scales.