Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1332
Effects of high flow events (and other factors) on Salmonids
Spring and fall high flow events released by Glen Canyon Dam appear to affect rainbow and brown trout in different ways that also very geographically, however other environmental factors are likely to play as important, or more important. Teasing apart impacts is made difficult by the lack of experimental design and limited replication of spring high flow events.
Authors
Charles B. Yackulic
Invasive buffelgrass detection using high-resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine
Methods to detect and monitor the spread of invasive grasses are critical to avoid ecosystem transformations and large economic costs. The rapid spread of non‐native buffelgrass(Pennisetum ciliare) has intensified fire risk and is replacing fire intolerant native vegetation in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern US. Coarse‐resolution satellite imagery has had limited success in detecting small
Authors
Kaitlyn Elkind, Temuulen T. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Clare E. Aslan
Wind erosion and dust from US drylands: a review of causes, consequences, and solutions in a changing world
Erosion by wind is one of the principal processes associated with land degradation in drylands
and is a significant concern to land managers and policymakers globally. In the drylands of North America, millions of tons of soil are lost to wind erosion annually. Of the 60 million ha in the United States identified as most vulnerable to wind erosion (arid and dominated by fine sandy soils), 64% are man
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Alix A. Pfennigwerth, Stephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Jayne Belnap, Nichole N. Barger
Changes in belowground biodiversity during ecosystem development
We do not know how and why belowground biodiversity may change as soils develop over centuries to millennia, hampering our ability to predict the myriad of ecosystem processes regulated by belowground organisms under changing environments. We conducted a global survey of 16 soil chronosequences spanning a wide range of ecosystem types and found that in less productive ecosystems, increases in belo
Authors
Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Richard D. Bardgett, Peter M. Vitousek, Fernando T. Maestre, Mark A. Williams, David J. Eldridge, Hans Lambers, Sigrid Neuhauser, Antonio Gallardo, Laura García-Velázquez, Osvaldo E. Sala, Sebastián R. Abades, Fernando D. Alfaro, Asmeret A. Berhe, Matthew A. Bowker, Courtney M. Currier, Nick A. Cutler, Stephen C. Hart, Patrick E. Hayes, Zeng-Yei Hseu, Martin Kirchmair, Cecilia A. Pérez, Sasha C. Reed, Victor M. Peña-Ramírez, Fernanda Santos, Christina Siebe, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Luis Weber-Grullon, Noah Fierer
Long‐term plant community trajectories suggest divergent responses of native and non‐native perennials and annuals to vegetation removal and seeding treatments
Land managers frequently apply vegetation removal and seeding treatments to restore ecosystem function following woody plant encroachment, invasive species spread, and wildfire. However, the long‐term outcome of these treatments is unclear due to a lack of widespread monitoring. We quantified how vegetation removal (via wildfire or management) with or without seeding and environmental conditions r
Authors
Stella M. Copeland, Seth M. Munson, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. Butterfield, Kevin L. Gunnell
Observations on the range and nesting biology of the Mexican endemic rufous-capped brush-finch (Atlapetes Pileatus Pileatus)
The Rufous-capped Brush-finch (Atlapetes pileatus) is a species endemic to Mexico, whose breeding biology has received little attention. We studied two nests of the nominate subspecies from the mountains of southern Sonora. Nests were untidy, broad, open cups, placed in low, thick vegetation. Clutch size at one nest consisted of three immaculate white eggs. The second nest contained two Brush-finc
Authors
Harold F. Greeney, Jeff Port, Charles van Riper
An introduced breeding population of Chrysemys picta marginata in the Kaibab National Forest, northern Arizona
The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is widely distributed from coast to coast in North America with each of four subspecies generally occupying different regions. In the southwestern USA and northern Mexico, where C. p. bellii is the expected native race, populations are small and widelyscattered. Introduced populations of other painted turtle subspecies are reported from various locations in the
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Bruce L. Christman, Kristy L. Cummings, Jenna Norris, Shellie R. Puffer, Christina Jones
The past and future roles of competition and habitat in the range‐wide occupancy dynamics of Northern Spotted Owls
Slow ecological processes challenge conservation. Short‐term variability can obscure the importance of slower processes that may ultimately determine the state of a system. Furthermore, management actions with slow responses can be hard to justify. One response to slow processes is to explicitly concentrate analysis on state dynamics. Here, we focus on identifying drivers of Northern Spotted Owl (
Authors
Charles B. Yackulic, Larissa L. Bailey, Katie Dugger, Raymond J. Davis, Alan B. Franklin, Eric D. Forsman, Steven H. Ackers, Lawrence S. Andrews, Lowell V. Diller, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, Christopher McCafferty, Janice A. Reid, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Stan G. Sovern
Where has turtle ecology been, and where is it going?
Over 9000 articles have been published on turtles and tortoises (excluding sea turtles) since 1950 according to the Web of Science, including over 8000 contained in a personal bibliography that we analyze in this paper. Research had a slow start from 1900 to 1950, with mostly anecdotal additions to our knowledge until the contributions of F. Cagle and A. Carr took turtle research to new levels as
Authors
J. Whitfield Gibbons, Jeffrey E. Lovich
Patterns of big sagebrush plant community composition and stand structure in the western United States
Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities are found in western North America and comprise a mix of shrubs, forbs, and grasses. Climate, topography, and soil water availability are important factors that shape big sagebrush stand structure and plant community composition; however, most studies have focused on understanding these relationships at sites in a small portion of the bi
Authors
Victoria E. Pennington, John B. Bradford, Kyle A. Palmquist, Rachel R. Renne, William K. Lauenroth
Arizona hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. arizonicus)—A systematic data assessment in support of recovery
The Arizona hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. arizonicus) is endemic to central Arizona in Gila and Pinal Counties, and has been federally listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) since 1979. Mining, mineral exploration, and highway development have resulted in habitat degradation and loss of individual plants. Therefore, decreases in the population of the
Authors
Kathryn A. Thomas, Daniel F. Shryock, Todd C. Esque
U.S. Geological research at Grand Canyon National Park: A century of collaboration
(Fairley) When historians describe the decades preceding designation of Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP), they typically focus attention on early scientific studies conducted by John Wesley Powell, Clarence Dutton, and Charles Walcott. All three of these pioneering scientists were employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a small Federal agency first established in 1879. Yet rarely do his
Authors
Helen C. Fairley