A Portrait of Changing Community Composition in Urban Wetlands of the Salt River

Luke Ramsey-Wiegmann
PhD student, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

The Salt River has sustained urban life in the Phoenix area
for 1500 years, but following its complete diversion for urban
and agricultural uses, the historic riverbed has been
mostly dry. Yet in a few reaches of the river, human activity
has returned water to the riverbed—both intentionally and
accidentally. The Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological
Research program has monitored plant and animal
communities in several of these urban wetlands since 2012
to understand how urbanization, climate change, and land
management choices shape ecological communities. Luke
Ramsey-Wiegmann combines ecological analysis with art
(print and papermaking) to explore how different approaches
to riparian stewardship shape ecosystems. Join Luke to look
four of these case studies—remnant, accidental, restored,
and rehabilitated wetlands—to examine how their biodiversity
has changed over the past decade and what this means for
urban riparian stewardship.

Zoom address provided upon registration, if requested.

RSVP to cindy.zisner@asu.edu

In partnership with the School of Life Sciences (SOLS).