Bowen’s research is still incomplete — her first paper is expected out this fall, and a final report isn’t due until 2018. But the more data Bowen collects, she said, the more she’s convinced human activity is changing the landscape.
“To think that one part of the land use isn’t having an impact is overlooking the complexity of the system,” she said.
Since they began their studies in 2015 in response to outcry from car enthusiasts who use the landscape as a specialty race course, the scientists have investigated the flats’ weather, chemistry, geology, hydrology and even the microbial inhabitants.