Article
Agricultural Economics & Policy
Julie M. Mueller, John B. Loomis, Leslie Richardson, Ryan A. Fitch
Summary: Proximity to public lands has a positive effect on house prices, with little research on the impact of national parks. This study found positive impacts on house prices from proximity to both Saguaro National Park West and Tucson Mountain Park, with a larger effect from Saguaro National Park West.
APPLIED ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES AND POLICY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Angelica Jara-Servin, Adan Silva, Hugo Barajas, Rocio Cruz-Ortega, Clara Tinoco-Ojanguren, Luis D. Alcaraz
Summary: Buffelgrass is an invasive plant that invades land by secreting chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants. A study found that the root-associated bacteria of buffelgrass can adapt to this environment and promote its growth. The composition of the buffelgrass microbiome also changes with its developmental state. These findings provide new insights for controlling buffelgrass invasion.
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhihao Su, Xiaobing Zhou, Li Zhou, Xiaolong Jiang, Xiaoshan Kang
Summary: The study indicates that young stages in the Taklamakan Desert population are at great risk, and the population may finish with the elapse of time. Efforts are needed to prevent continuous loss in abundance in the conservation of this endangered species.
PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Selma Kosmas, Raquel Godinho, Ezequiel Fabiano, Francisco Alvares
Summary: The endangered status of African wild dogs in Angola necessitates immediate conservation efforts due to the lack of information and accessibility to the population. This study conducted interviews and camera trapping to assess the distribution and population of wild dogs in Bicuar National Park, highlighting the importance of the park for the conservation of this species and the use of local knowledge for surveying rare wildlife in remote areas.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Clare E. Aslan, Manette Sandor, Martha Sample, Sasha Stortz, Sara Souther, Carrie Levine, Leah Samberg, Miranda Gray, Brett Dickson
Summary: The study utilized a novel spatially explicit stakeholder engagement process to quantify social-ecological resilience to fire in the non-fire-adapted Sonoran Desert Ecosystem in Arizona, USA. The research found highest fire risk in the central and eastern portions of the study area, and lowest fire resilience in the southeastern portion.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Joshua R. White, Robert C. Balling Jr, Randall S. Cerveny
Summary: This study analyzes the origin, paths, and height variations of dust storms in the central Sonoran Desert of central Arizona, USA. The findings show that dust storms mainly originate from the southern region and have a preference for southwest direction. These storms travel along the river beds of the Gila River and its tributaries, while weaker dust storms move southward. As dust concentrations decrease, the storm direction shifts eastward and the dust height increases.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ryan Summers, Matthew Hovland, Yvette Gibson, Ricardo Mata-Gonzalez
Summary: A vegetation study conducted in Saguaro National Park, Arizona, showed significant increases in overall canopy cover, density, and Shannon diversity between 1976 and 2018. Changes in plant community structure were correlated with increased temperature, precipitation, and vapor pressure differential.
APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
A. T. Evan, W. Porter, R. Clemesha, A. Kuwano, R. Frouin
Summary: This study presents observations of a dust storm that occurred in the northwestern Sonoran Desert on 22 February 2020. The study found that evaporative cooling from cold frontal orographic precipitation led to the generation of a density current, which caused dust uplift as it traveled over the desert surface. Measurements from a ceilometer located downwind of the initial dust emission event showed a well-developed density current structure, and the top of the density current cold pool exhibited Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The study suggests that the internal circulation of a density current modifies the timing and patterns of dust emission and concentration.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Genna Gallas, Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman
Summary: This study compared the structure and function of biological soil crusts (BSC) in urban and non-urban environments. The results showed that although the ground cover was similar between sites, the spatial distribution of BSCs was significantly different, with more BSCs found under plants in the non-urban site. Gross photosynthesis, an indicator of productivity, was also higher in the non-urban BSCs, indicating that urban BSCs may have lower productivity due to their proximity to urban environments. This study provides evidence that BSCs in urbanized areas are functionally affected and may have different contributions to carbon and nitrogen cycling in these ecosystems.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Paola Bouley, Antonio Paulo, Mercia Angela, Cole Du Plessis, David G. Marneweck
Summary: The reintroduction of wild dogs in Gorongosa National Park has been a success, with the founding packs showing high survival rates and successful reproduction. The study highlights the importance of pre-release preparation and natural pack formations in aiding the success of reintroductions. Various factors such as habitat avoidance, dietary partitioning, and management strategies have contributed to the successful reintroduction of wild dogs in the large, unfenced landscape of Mozambique.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pedro A. M. Leite, Alejandro E. Castellanos, Bradford P. Wilcox, Masuly Vega-Puga, Enrique Martinez, Sara Dennis, Sofia Choza, Delia M. Acuna-Acosta
Summary: Invasion by exotic grasses, such as buffelgrass, is altering the ecohydrological feedbacks in drylands. This study found that buffelgrass significantly affects soil moisture patterns and infiltrability in the Sonoran Desert. The invasion increases hydraulic conductivity and surface roughness, altering hydrological connectivity and potentially impacting native vegetation dynamics and stability.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Colton Flowers, Francois-Michel Le Tourneau, Nirav Merchant, Brian Heidorn, Regis Ferriere, Jake Harwood
Summary: This study proposes a holistic approach to analyzing soundscapes using acoustic indices, and demonstrates through analysis of a soundscapes database from the Sonoran Desert region that sound indices can reveal temporal variations and patterns of soundscapes, as well as surprising similarities between otherwise different environments.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Enrique R. Vivoni, Eli R. Perez-Ruiz, Russell L. Scott, Adam T. Naito, Steven R. Archer, Joel A. Biederman, Nicole P. Templeton
Summary: Woody plant encroachment limits forage productivity of rangelands and alters ecosystem processes. Intervention strategies to reduce woody plant abundance lack observations to quantify changes in ecosystem processes. This study investigated the effects of brush management on an encroached grassland in Arizona.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jeremy R. Shaw
Summary: This study investigated the impacts of roads on vegetation and hydrology in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, USA. The results showed that roads led to changes in vegetation, reducing species and functional group richness, and negatively affecting the growth and survival of woody plants. The type and characteristics of roads, as well as geological substrate and soil type, influenced the extent of the impacts and hydrological changes.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jorge Cortes-Ramos, Luis M. Farfan, Luis Brito-Castillo
Summary: Freezing temperatures in the Sonoran Desert, Mexico have been analyzed using statistical crossing theory to identify characteristics of past and recent events. The study found a decrease in freezing days since 1970, with less frequent and severe extreme freezing events in the early 1990s and early 21st century. Long-term trends showed less-frequent severe freezing with a changing probability due to cold-season warming.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Michala L. Phillips, Daniel E. Winkler, Robin H. Reibold, Brooke B. Osborne, Sasha C. Reed
Summary: This study examines the effects of nitrogen deposition on plant community structure and biocrust cover in semi-arid grasslands. Results showed that nitrogen additions did not significantly impact plant diversity or invasive species abundance, but did negatively affect biocrust cover in some years, potentially influenced by inter-annual precipitation differences. Soil inorganic nitrogen concentrations responded rapidly to nitrogen additions, but plant foliar nitrogen concentrations showed no significant response, suggesting a buffering effect of endogenous nitrogen cycling on plant and biocrust responses to nitrogen fertilization. Further research is needed to determine nitrogen critical load thresholds and factors influencing nitrogen fate in semi-arid systems.
Article
Biology
Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. Reed, Scott Ferrenberg, Akasha Faist, Daniel E. Winkler, Catherine Cort, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi
Summary: Dryland degradation is a persistent global issue, with challenges in restoring productivity and functioning. Water limitation and altered biogeochemical cycles are key factors limiting restoration success in this biome.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Matthew R. Jones, Daniel E. Winkler, Rob Massatti
Summary: The study found that in a small desert region in southeast Utah, demographic and ecological mechanisms promote diversification, endemism, and rarity in the threatened Astragalus species complex. High-throughput DNA sequencing revealed the impacts of demographic history, geographical and ecological distances on genetic differentiation, and identified potential adaptive loci.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Matthew R. Jones, Daniel E. Winkler, Rob Massatti
Summary: Functional connectivity is crucial for the maintenance of genetic variation and rare species, yet understanding the processes influencing it and translating this knowledge into management practice remains a challenge. In the study of Graham's beardtongue, population structure analyses revealed an isolation-by-distance pattern, but evidence of recent admixture suggests the importance of maintaining connectivity between previously isolated lineages.
CONSERVATION GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Michaeline B. N. Albright, Stilianos Louca, Daniel E. Winkler, Kelli L. Feeser, Sarah-Jane Haig, Katrine L. Whiteson, Joanne B. Emerson, John Dunbar
Summary: Microbiome engineering is increasingly utilized to address challenges in health, agriculture, and climate, but the failure to consider barriers to organism establishment, particularly in terms of biotic interactions, may hinder the long-term success of engineering solutions.
Review
Plant Sciences
Travis E. Huxman, Daniel E. Winkler, Kailen A. Mooney
Summary: Global change poses a threat to plant diversity and disrupts its interplay with ecosystem structure and function. To address this challenge, ecology needs to consider interactions between different levels of biological hierarchy and integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives and units of study through empirical work and theoretical development. The use of common gardens is advocated to integrate ecology, evolutionary biology, and ecosystem science, providing opportunities to evaluate important assumptions and tackle the integration of physicochemical and eco-evolutionary foundations in understanding plants and ecosystems.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Theresa A. Foley, Donna Kenski
Summary: Mercury-contaminated fish in the Great Lakes basin pose a serious threat to humans and wildlife. Measurements of total gaseous mercury (TGM) over Lake Superior and Lake Michigan show relatively low concentrations compared to other monitoring stations in Canada and the United States. The study also found significant correlations between TGM and other pollutants such as organic carbon, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium over Lake Michigan.
JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Theresa Foley, Don E. Swann, Guadalupe Sotelo, Nicholas Perkins, Daniel E. Winkler
Summary: The saguaro cactus, a keystone species endemic to the Sonoran Desert of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, was found to have asymmetrically distributed flowers with a seasonal pattern of counterclockwise radial spreading. This study is the first to document a seasonal, counterclockwise pattern of asynchronous flowering in saguaro, with potential implications for the cacti's response to climate change.
Article
Remote Sensing
Theresa Foley, Ann Marie Wolf, Chloe Jackson, Ryan Stephenson
Summary: Fear of liability from the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act has led developers to prefer building on undeveloped green space, causing urban sprawl in suburban areas while urban blighted properties remain vacant. Agencies often create brownfield inventories through site suitability analysis to identify areas for revitalization and development.
GEO-SPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Rob Massatti, Daniel E. Winkler
Summary: This article describes a workflow using the r package popmaps for population management, focusing on spatial interpolation of genetic differentiation patterns. The importance of ancestry probability surfaces and how this technology can be applied to support population management and decision-making is emphasized.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Ella M. M. Samuel, Rachel M. M. Mitchell, Daniel E. E. Winkler
Summary: Understanding the relationship between science, management, and policy is crucial for successful ecosystem restoration efforts. However, restoration ecology as a scientific discipline, ecological restoration as a practice, and restoration policies often lack unity. Challenges associated with this disunion include social barriers and limitations of existing policy. Potential solutions, such as transdisciplinary collaboration and evidence-based decision-making, are proposed to address these challenges and support restoration.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Kristina E. E. Young, Brooke B. B. Osborne, Michala Phillips, Daniel E. E. Winkler
Summary: The rapid intensification of ecological extremes in drylands, particularly the semiarid region of the Colorado Plateau, due to climate change and human land use, is addressed in this article. The suggested research directions for the restoration of Colorado Plateau ecosystems during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) include addressing heterogeneity, exploring simultaneous global change drivers, co-producing with partners, and centering Indigenous ways of knowing. The article emphasizes restoration research efforts led by early career scientists in a region where a changing climate, historic grazing, and continued land use pressures have resulted in novel ecological extremes.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kunal Palawat, Robert A. Root, Luz Imelda Cruz, Theresa Foley, Victoria Carella, Charles Beck, Monica Ramirez-Andreottaa
Summary: This article provides detailed arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) concentration data in rooftop harvested rainwater samples and atmospheric wet deposition samples collected by Project Harvest and NADP. The samples were analyzed using ICP-MS, and the data can be used to assess contamination of rainwater and inform community use of natural resources in AZ.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kunal Palawat, Robert A. Root, Luz Imelda Cortez, Theresa Foley, Victoria Carella, Charles Beck, Monica D. Ramirez-Andreotta
Summary: As climate change worsens water scarcity, the practice of rainwater harvesting for household irrigation and gardening has become more common. However, the quality and use of harvested rainwater have not been extensively studied, and the potential exposure to pollutants is largely unknown. This study, called Project Harvest, aimed to address this knowledge gap by examining the quality of harvested rainwater in four environmental justice communities in Arizona, USA. The results showed that the concentrations of arsenic and lead in the rainwater varied seasonally and were influenced by the proximity to industrial sites.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Emma Ladouceur, Nancy Shackelford, Karma Bouazza, Lars Brudvig, Anna Bucharova, Timo Conradi, Todd E. Erickson, Magda Garbowski, Kelly Garvy, W. Stanley Harpole, Holly P. Jones, Tiffany Knight, Mlungele M. Nsikani, Gustavo Paterno, Katharine Suding, Vicky M. Temperton, Peter Torok, Daniel E. Winkler, Jonathan M. Chase
Summary: The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to provide the means and incentives for upscaling restoration efforts worldwide. Effective ecological restoration requires knowledge and data sharing to inform synthesis for robust restoration science. Sharing species-level, fine-scale ecological community data can help improve restoration outcomes and increase predictive capacity. Integrated data, analysis, and knowledge sharing can support shared success in restoration ecology.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Narendra Nelli, Diana Francis, Ricardo Fonseca, Olivier Masson, Mamadou Sow, Emmanuel Bosc
Summary: This study investigates the changes in the atmospheric electric field (Ez) during foggy conditions in the hyperarid region of the United Arab Emirates. The results show that as fog persists, Ez becomes more variable due to the absorption and redistribution of charges by the fog, which alters the ion balance and affects electrical conductivity in the atmosphere.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Ezra Hadad, Amir Balaban, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef
Summary: This study investigated whether the prey of striped hyenas has adapted to the change in the natural environment caused by human activities, particularly artificial light at night (ALAN). The results showed that ALAN had no impact on the diet or den distribution of the hyenas in central Israel. The study also found that domestic animals were the most common prey, and there were also some vegetative species in their diet. Overall, the feeding behavior of striped hyenas is influenced by geographical region, habitat, and human activities.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Rahim Najafi Tireh Shabankareh, Pardis Ziaee, Mohammad Javad Abedini
Summary: This study evaluated the IMERG satellite-based precipitation product in the Fars province of Iran using daily rain gauges as reference data. The results showed that the product tends to overestimate light rainfall and underestimate heavy rainfall, with the best performance in the 40-80 mm/day range. The accuracy of the product varies by month and is less biased in months with milder temperatures. Additionally, there was a higher correlation in mid-elevated areas, positive bias in low-elevated areas, and negative bias in high-elevated areas. Longer time scales showed considerable improvement in the IMERG estimates.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
