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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Desert Ecology
Biodiversity And Global Change In Terrestrial Ecosystems, Timothy J. Ohlert
Biodiversity And Global Change In Terrestrial Ecosystems, Timothy J. Ohlert
Biology ETDs
Terrestrial ecosystems are critical to human and ecological processes but many gaps in our knowledge remain regarding how terrestrial plant communities assemble and respond to global change. I used field experiments distributed around the world, including long-term experiments from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in New Mexico and deserts of the southwestern U.S., to evaluate the consequences of drought and other abiotic stressors on plant communities. Dominant grasses were particularly important for the productivity and structure of grasslands at SNWR. In general, the structure of desert plant communities had high resistance to extreme drought, though grasses and other perennial …
Dehydration And Mortality Of Feral Horses And Burros: A Systematic Review Of Reported Deaths, John Derek Scasta, Eric Thacker, Jacob D. Hennig, Karl Hoopes
Dehydration And Mortality Of Feral Horses And Burros: A Systematic Review Of Reported Deaths, John Derek Scasta, Eric Thacker, Jacob D. Hennig, Karl Hoopes
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Water is a requirement for all organisms, including equids. Dehydration-caused mortality of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) is often cited as a cause of concern and as justification for management of feral horses, yet a paucity of information exists on the matter. We conducted a systematic review from September 1, 2020 through January 15, 2021 of available news reports of feral horse and burro (E. asinus) dehydration mortalities and public interventions to save horses using a public search engine with a priori defined search term combinations and additional snowball sampling. We found 15 uniquely reported mortality …
Seed Bank Composition Within Two Sagebrush Communities: A Comparison Of Drought, Microsite, And Aboveground Community Effects, Allison Marie Nunes
Seed Bank Composition Within Two Sagebrush Communities: A Comparison Of Drought, Microsite, And Aboveground Community Effects, Allison Marie Nunes
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Soil seed banks are critical biodiversity repositories for many dryland plant communities. Understanding how environmental factors alter seed bank composition can provide valuable information on ecological processes within a community and be useful for creating land management strategies. Using the seedling emergence method, I characterized the seed bank of two adjacent dryland plant communities that vary in dominant sagebrush species, structure, and function. Specifically, within an Artemisia arbuscula dominated community and Artemisia cana dominated community, I assessed the influence of three environmental factors on each seed bank: experimentally imposed drought, shrub microsites (compared to interspaces), and aboveground vegetation. Within the …
Inoculum Potential Of Pinus Edulis-Associated Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Across A Forest Extirpation Chronosequence, Annie M. Montes
Inoculum Potential Of Pinus Edulis-Associated Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Across A Forest Extirpation Chronosequence, Annie M. Montes
Biology ETDs
Few studies have examined inoculum potential of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) in the absence of plant hosts, yet persistence of these fungi may be paramount to resilience of Pinus edulis and other mycorrhizal plant species. We conducted a study in which seven sites were selected in northwestern New Mexico with known dates of P. edulis extirpation and a lack of regeneration. Age classes included: two sites extirpated 10-20 years ago, two extirpated 55-65 years ago, two extirpated 500+ years ago, and one extirpated 11,000+ years ago. At each site, two plots were paired: an extirpated plot and the nearest live adult …
Drought And Coyotes Mediate The Relationship Between Mesopredators And Human Disturbance In California, Molly K. Parren
Drought And Coyotes Mediate The Relationship Between Mesopredators And Human Disturbance In California, Molly K. Parren
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Mesopredators in California are facing two major changes to their ecosystem: drought and the expansion of human disturbance. As a result, mesopredators are likely shifting their habitat use as well as their interspecies interactions to balance resource needs and risk-taking on the landscape. In response to severe drought, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife deployed 585 camera traps throughout the Mojave Desert and Central Valley documenting mammalian mesopredator presence in a drought year (2016) and a post-drought year (2017). The objectives of this study were to examine spatial patterns of mesopredator occurrence and co-occurrence with a dominant predator, the …
The Impact Of Climate And Elevation On The Growth And Mortality Of Piñon Pine, Alice M. Fretz
The Impact Of Climate And Elevation On The Growth And Mortality Of Piñon Pine, Alice M. Fretz
Biology ETDs
The Southwestern United States is currently experiencing severe drought, resulting in the mortality of many tree species. Piñon-juniper woodlands are an extensive biome in the Southwest, and are highly vulnerable to extended periods of drought that lead to tree mortality. Specifically, Pinus edulis populations are decreasing due to increasingly arid conditions. I used dendrochronology to investigate how tree growth rings of Pinus edulis reflect severe drought in living and dead trees. I also investigated how severe drought affects Pinus edulis along an altitudinal gradient. Tree core samples were taken from currently living and dead trees, as well as from trees …