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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Synecology And Disturbance Regimes Of Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems, Neil E. West
Synecology And Disturbance Regimes Of Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems, Neil E. West
Wildland Resources Faculty Publications
The pre-Columbian mixed-growth form, composition, and structure of sagebrush steppes was mostly due to the highly variable semiarid climate and long fire-free intervals. The weak stability of this relatively complex vegetation was easily upset by excessive livestock grazing, especially in drought periods. After a few decades of uncontrolled livestock grazing, it was easy for introduced winter annuals, especially cheatgrass, to dominate the understory and alter the fire regime to larger, more frequent fires that occur earlier in the year. Accelerated soil erosion has caused many sites to lose the potential for management back toward native perennial dominance by controlling only …
Response Of Coyotes To Avian Distress Calls : Testing The Startle-Predator And Predator-Attraction Hypotheses, Frederick F. Knowlton, Michael R. Conover, Kristi K. Wise
Response Of Coyotes To Avian Distress Calls : Testing The Startle-Predator And Predator-Attraction Hypotheses, Frederick F. Knowlton, Michael R. Conover, Kristi K. Wise
Wildland Resources Faculty Publications
We tested two hypotheses proposed to explain why many birds emit distress calls when in the grasp of a predator: the startle-predator and predator-attraction hypotheses. Responses of captive coyotes to a starling distress call were compared between no-call and call trials to determine whether coyotes are startled by the call, and if so, whether they habituated to it. The coyotes were then paired and re-tested to determine whether the call incites a second coyote to approach and interfere with the attack of the initial coyote. Most coyotes exhibited a startle response during their first exposure to the distress call, their …
Methods In Historical Ecology: A Case Study Of Tintic Valley, Utah, Jeffrey A. Creque, Neil E. West, James P. Dobrowolski
Methods In Historical Ecology: A Case Study Of Tintic Valley, Utah, Jeffrey A. Creque, Neil E. West, James P. Dobrowolski
Wildland Resources Faculty Publications
Through use of repeat photography, archival research, and field observation to reconstruct landscape vegetation patterns and changes across a 120 year period in the upper Tintic Valley of central Utah, researchers found significant changes in landscape vegetation pattern over time, including change in pinyon-juniper woodland area. Previously reported massive woodland harvest associated with early mining, domestic and agricultural activities elsewhere in the Intermountain West also took place in Utah. The impact on woodland area of the agricultural "bull" fence alone was significant. More recent study area woodland expansion also occurred. Because intensive industrial activity associated with development of the Tintic …