Concentration and composition of monoterpenoids in plant tissue affects a variety of environmental and ecological issues such as plant defenses, plant classification, and phytotoxicity. Developing the techniques for extracting and estimating the concentration and composition of monoterpenoids must be speciesspecific because monoterpenoid storage location varies between species. Ashe juniper f,J...

Aim An extreme early season freeze event in October 2002 resulted in significant foliar damage and/or mortality within western juniper woodlands. We identify the geographical patterns of tree damage based on morphological, topographical and edaphic parameters, and discuss the ecological implications of this event. Methods: We sampled trees on four matched pairs of disturbed and minimally distur...

Ingestion of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) presents a physiological and behavioral challenge for mammalian herbivores. Herbivores must not only detoxify PSMs, but they may also deal with energetic constraints such as reduced food intake, mass loss, increased excretion of energy, and increased metabolic demands. We hypothesized that the energetic consequences of consuming PSMs will signific...

Given natural variation in weather conditions and increased risk of drought associated with climate change, understanding how birds respond to fluctuations in precipitation is a necessary step toward development of more-effective, long-term management strategies for species of conservation concern. We compared behaviors and reproductive output of the federally endangered Vireo atricapilla (Blac...

It has been known for many years that ponderosa pine needles can induce late-term abortions in cattle. Labdane acids including isocupressic acid (ICA) and agathic acid are responsible for initiating abortions. Recent research demonstrated that a number of trees including many species of pine, juniper, and cedar contain either isocupressic acid or agathic acid at concentrations sufficient to be ...

The ability of herbivores to switch diets is thought to be governed by biotransformation enzymes. To identify potential biotransformation enzymes, we conducted a large-scale study on the expression of biotransformation enzymes in herbivorous woodrats (Neotoma lepida). We compared gene expression in a woodrat population from the Great Basin that feeds on the ancestral diet of juniper to one from...

Wildfires can create or intensify water repellency in soil, limiting the soil's capacity to wet and retain water. The objective of this research was to quantify soil water repellency characteristics within burned piñon-juniper woodlands and relate this information to ecological site characteristics. We sampled soil water repellency across forty-one 1,000 m2 study plots within three major wildfi...

This paper discusses how FPGA acceleration is used within the JUNIPER platform. JUNIPER is a processing platform to enable the development of real-time, Big Data systems. Unlike existing Big Data approaches which are based on either batch processing, or streaming processing that is “fast enough”, the JUNIPER platform integrates a range of technologies that increase the predictability of the sys...