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Life Sciences Commons

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Biology

Smith College

Series

2018

Climate change

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Role Of Climate In The Dynamics Of Annual Plants In A Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem, Danielle Ignace, Nancy Huntly, Peter Chesson Jan 2018

The Role Of Climate In The Dynamics Of Annual Plants In A Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem, Danielle Ignace, Nancy Huntly, Peter Chesson

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Question: What is the role of temporal climate fluctuations in the dynamics of desert winter annual plants in the Portal Bajada, and in the sustained irruption of the non-native annual plant species, Erodium cicutarium?

Field site: Portal Bajada, San Simon Valley, Arizona, USA. Methods: We counted plants at flowering over a 21-year period on twelve permanent plots and related these numbers to weather data collected at an on-site weather station, supplemented by observations from the National Climate Data Center. Specific summary climate variables considered most relevant to annual plant biology were developed as candidate predictors of plant response variables.

Statistical …