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Steep declines in the Bathurst and Bluenose East Caribou Herds in Canada have highlighted the need for co-production of knowledge to understand a complex ecological-societal system. Our research group of non-Indigenous scientists has found success by applying our technical skills to address questions of greatest concern to Indigenous partners. These successes have not been without challenges, and we are learning to check our own biases, to better plan for the time and funding required for meaningful exchanges of knowledge, and to communicate early and often with our partners about how best to support their capacity to affect change in caribou co-management. We share some lessons learned and encourage fellow researchers to embrace co-production of knowledge to address the many complex issues facing deer conservation worldwide. 

Abstract Wind‐blown sand dunes are both a consequence and a driver of climate dynamics; they arise under persistently dry and windy conditions, and are sometimes a source for airborne dust. Dune fields experience extreme daily changes in temperature, yet the role of atmospheric stability in driving sand transport and dust emission has not been established. Here, we report on an unprecedented multiscale field experiment at the White Sands Dune Field (New Mexico, USA), where by measuring wind, humidity and temperature profiles in the atmosphere concurrently with sediment transport, we demonstrate that a daily rhythm of sand and dust transport arises from nonequilibrium atmospheric boundary layer convection. A global analysis of 45 dune fields confirms the connection found in situ between surface wind speed and diurnal temperature cycles, revealing an unrecognized climate feedback that may contribute to the growth of deserts on Earth and dune activity on Mars. 

Abstract Aeolian dune fields are self‐organized patterns formed by wind‐blown sand. Dunes are topographic roughness elements that impose drag on the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), creating a natural coupling between form and flow. While the steady‐state influence of drag on the ABL is well studied, nonequilibrium effects due to roughness transitions are less understood. Here we examine the large‐scale coupling between the ABL and an entire dune field. Field observations at White Sands, New Mexico, reveal a concomitant decline in wind speed and sand flux downwind of the transition from smooth playa to rough dunes at the upwind dune‐field margin, that affects the entire∼10‐km ‐long dune field. Using a theory for the system that accounts for the observations, we generalize to other roughness scenarios. We find that, via transitional ABL dynamics, aeolian sediment aggradation can be influenced by roughness both inside and outside dune fields.