In arid ecosystems, as much as 75% of solar radiation that penetrates the atmosphere hits the surface of the soil. The combination of high irradiance, high temperature, and low moisture puts constraints on the activity and organization of microbial communities. To separate the direct effects of UV absorbance on litter decomposition from the indirect effects of microbial selection, we placed mix...

Plant hydraulic conductance (k s) is a critical control on whole-plant water use and carbon uptake and, during drought, influences whether plants survive or die. To assess long-term physiological and hydraulic responses of mature trees to water availability, we manipulated ecosystem-scale water availability from 2007 to 2013 in a piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) wood...

The expansion of piñon-juniper woodlands the past 100 years in the western United States has resulted in large scale efforts to kill trees and recover sagebrush steppe rangelands. It is important to evaluate vegetation recovery following woodland control to develop best management practices. In this study, we compared two fuel reduction treatments and a cut-and-leave (CUT) treatment used to con...

The one-seeded, serrate leaf margined junipers of Southwestern United States and northern Mexico consist of J. angosturana, J. californica, J. coahuilensis var. arizonica, J. c. var. coahuilensis, J. monosperma, J. pinchotii, J. occidentalis var. australis, J. o. var. occidentalis and J. osteosperma. Recent nrDNA and trnC-trnD sequence data were compared with RAPDs analysis and two of the taxa ...

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of adding fruit juniper berry (Juniperus communis) on performance, some carcass characteristics, serum parameters, histopathological features and jejunum villi lengths in broiler diets. A total 150 male chicks were used study. The housed for 42 days. One experimental groups a control group, diets 4 treatment included 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% 2% dried ...

The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a widespread brood parasite which often engages in a commensalistic feeding relationship with domestic livestock. We studied the behavior of female cowbirds breeding in pinyon–juniper woodlands in New Mexico, USA, on two adjacent sites, one an active cattle ranch, and the other a site that was not grazed by domestic livestock throughout the songbird ...

Drought-related tree mortality occurs globally and may increase in the future, but we lack sufficient mechanistic understanding to accurately predict it. Here we present the first field assessment of the physiological mechanisms leading to mortality in an ecosystem-scale rainfall manipulation of a piñon-juniper (Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma) woodland. We measured transpiration (E) and mode...

1. Neonate evergreen bagworms, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae), disperse by dropping on a strand of silk, termed silking, and ballooning on the wind. Larvae construct silken bags with fragments of plant foliage. This species is highly polyphagous, feeding on more than 125 species of woody plants of 45 families. The larvae commonly infests juniper (Juniperus spp....

Woodland ecosystems of the world have been changed by land use demands, altered fire regimes, invasive species and climate change. Reduced fire frequency is recognised as a main causative agent for Pinus–Juniperus L. (piñon–juniper) expansion in North American woodlands. Piñon–juniper control measures, including prescribed fire, are increasingly employed to restore sagebrush steppe communities....

Understanding the factors that influence the distribution of understory vegetation is important for biological conservation and forest management. We compared understory species composition by multi-response permutation procedure and indicator species analysis between plots dominated by Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia Kom.) and Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) in coniferous forests of...