Eric V. McDonald

Research Professor

Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

Email: Eric.McDonald@dri.edu

Education

Research

Current Projects

• Analysis of Desert Shrubs Along First-order Channels on Desert Piedmonts: Possible Indicators of Ecosystem Health and Historic Variation
• Basic Research Linkages Among the Soil-Hydrologic-Biologic Systems Common to the Desert Piedmonts, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds
• Catalogue of Analogs: Identifying Terrain Similarities between the World's Deserts and the US Army's Desert/Hot Weather test site, Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), southwestern Arizona
• Collaborative Research: Comparison of regional flood frequency responses to climatic variability in the Western U.S. during the late Holocene using modern, historical, and pre-historical information
• Collaborative Research: Processes driving rock uplift and flexural deformation following convergent tectonics: The fluvial terrace record of the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, Ebro Basin, Spain
• Combining Cosmogenic Nuclides and Soil Stratigraphy for Alluvial Fan Chronology and Regional Correlation: Eastern Mojave, California
• Geochemical and Physical Characteristics of Iraqi Dust and Soil Samples
• Geochemical and Physical Characteristics of Vehicle Endurance and Dust Test Courses at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
• Integrated Forecasting of Desert Terrain Conditions for Military Operations
• Integrated Site Design for the Restoration of Military Lands
• Landscape Position and Hillslope Hydrology Associated with the Middle Ranch Hayfield Restoration
• Master Environmental Reference Site (MERS): Deformation and recovery of desert pavements, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
• Remote Sensing for Mapping Near-Surface Playa Moisture Soil Sampling and Evaluation in Support of Estimating Carrying Capacity and Landscape Degradation at the NTC - Fort Irwin, CA
• Seedbed Microclimate: Modeling and Monitoring Soil Moisture in Support of the Restoration of Military Lands
• Soil Evaluation in Support of Estimating Carrying Capacity and Landscape Degradation at the NTC
• Soil and Geomorphological Evaluation of the Age of Islands in the Snake River Sector

Selected Publications

Dahan, O., McDonald, E.V., and Young, M.H., 2003:

Development of a flexible TDR probe for deep vadose zone monitoring, submitted to Soil Science of America, Vadose Zone Journal 2:270-275.

Eppes, M.C., E.V. McDonald, and L.D. McFadden, 2003:

Soil geomorphological studies in the Mojave Desert: Impacts of Quaternary tectonics, climate, and rock type on soils, landscapes, and plant community ecology. In: D.J. Easterbrook (Ed.), Quaternary Geology of the United States. INQUA 2003 Field Guide Volume. Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, pp. 105-122.

McDonald, E.V., L.D. McFadden, and S.G. Wells, 2003:

Regional response of alluvial fans to the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition, Mojave Desert, California. In Lancaster, N., E. Yehouda, and S.G. Wells (Eds.), Paleoenvironments and paleohydrology of the Mojave and Southern Great Basin Deserts: Geological Society of America Special Paper, pp. 189-206.

McDonald, E.V., 2002:

Numerical Simulations of Soil Water Balance in Support of Revegetation of Damaged Military Lands in Arid Regions. Arid Land Research and Management 16(3): 277-291.

Lashlee, D., F. Briuer, W. Murphy, and E. McDonald, 2002:

Geomorphic mapping enhances cultural resource management at the US Army Yuma Proving Ground. Arid Land Research and Management 16(3): 213-231.

Hammerlynck, E.P, J.R. McAuliffe, E.V. McDonald, and S.D. Smith, 2002:

Impacts of desert soil processes and drought on contrasting Mojave Desert shrubs. Ecology 83: 768-779.

Kieft ,T. L., E.M. Murphy, D.L. Haldeman, P.S. Amy, B.N. Bjornstad, E.V. McDonald, D.B. Ringelberg,

D.C. White, J. Stair, R.P. Griffiths, T.C. Gsell, W.E. Holben, and D.R. Boone, 1999: Microbial transport, survival and succession in a Sequence of Buried Soils. Microbial Ecology 36: 336-348.

Phillips, W.M., E.V. McDonald, S.L. Reneau, and J. Poths, 1998:

Dating soils and alluvium with cosmogenic 21Ne depth profiles: Case studies from the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, USA. Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters 160(1-2): 209-223.

Richardson, C.A., E.V. McDonald, and A.J. Busacca, 1998:

Luminescence chronology for loess deposits in Washington State and Oregon, USA. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Suppl.-Bd. 116: 77-95.

McFadden, L.D., E.V. McDonald, S.G. Wells, K. Anderson, J. Quade, and S.L. Forman, 1997:

The vesicular layer of desert soils: Genesis and relationship to climate change and desert pavements based on numerical modeling, carbonate translocation behavior, and stable isotope and optical dating studies. Geomorphology 24(2-3): 101-146.

Richardson, C.A., E.V. McDonald, and A.J. Busacca, 1997:

Luminescence dating of loess from the northwest United States. Quaternary Science Reviews 16: 403-415.

McDonald, E.V., F.B. Pierson, G.N. Flerchinger, and L.D. McFadden, 1996:

Application of a process-based soil-water balance model to evaluate the influence of Late Quaternary climate change on soil-water movement. Geoderma 74: 167-192.

Wang, Y., E.V. McDonald, R. Amundson, L.D. McFadden, and O. Chadwick, 1996:

An isotopic study of soils in chronological sequences of alluvial deposits, Providence Mountains, California. Geological Society of American Bulletin 108(4): 379-397.

McDonald, E.V., S.L. Reneau, and J.N. Gardner, 1996:

Soil-forming processes on the Pajarito Plateau: Investigation of a soil chronosequence in Rendija Canyon. New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook, pp. 367-374.

McDonald, E.V., P. Longmire, P.M. Watt, R. Randall, and S.L. Reneau, 1996:

Natural major and trace element background geochemistry of selected soils, Los Alamos, New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook, pp. 375-382.

Meadows, D.G., M.H. Young, and E. V. McDonald, 2005:

A Laboratory Method for Determining the Unsaturated Hydraulic Properties of Soil Peds. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69: 807-815.

Reneau, S. L., E.V. McDonald, J.N. Gardner, T.R. Kolbe, J.S. Carney, P.M. Watt,

and P.A. Longmire, 1996: Erosion and deposition on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, and implications for geomorphic responses to late Quaternary climatic changes. New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook, pp. 391-390.

Reneau, S.L., P.G. Drakos, D. Katzman, D.V. Malmon, E.V. McDonald, and R.T. Ryti. 2004:

Geomorphic controls on contaminant distribution along an ephemeral stream. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 29(10):1209-1223.

Stevenson B.A., E.F. Kelly, E.V. McDonald, and A.J. Busacca. 2005:

The stable carbon isotope composition of soil organic carbon and pedogenic carbonates along a bioclimatic gradient in the Palouse region, Washington State, USA. Geoderma 124(1-2):37-47.

Sweeney M.R., A.J. Busacca, C.A. Richardson, M. Blinnikov, E.V. McDonald. 2004:

Glacial anticyclone recorded in Palouse loess of northwestern United States. Geology 32(8):705-708.

Young, M.H., E. V. McDonald, T. G. Caldwell, S. G. Benner, and D. G. Meadows, 2004:

Hydraulic Properties of a Desert Soil Chronosequence in the Mojave Desert, USA. Vadose Zone Journal 3: 956-963.

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Military Geoscience for the 21st Century