2009 LTER All Scientists Meeting - SEV

Investigating host feeding strategy as a determinant of gut microbial community profile

Cristina Takacs-Vesbach — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:01:34 +0000

Poster Number:

401

Presenter/Primary Author:

Cristina Takacs-Vesbach

Co-Authors:

Dan Colman

Co-Authors:

Eric Toolson

Diverse microbial communities live in the gut regions of animals. The precise ecological and evolutionary circumstances that govern relationships between hosts and their gut communities is unclear. In this study, we hypothesize that host feeding strategy shapes the microbial communities within the gut systems of insects. We collected five insect species from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge that exhibited herbivorous, detritovorous and carnivorous diets.

Interspecific spatial patterns support indirect facilitation of harvester ants by kangaroo rats

Andrew Edelman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:00:19 +0000

Poster Number:

390

Presenter/Primary Author:

Andrew Edelman

Spatial patterns of structures (e.g., nests and burrows) in animal populations can provide insight into underlying ecological processes. Banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) and harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) are the largest and most dominant granivores found in rodent and ant communities of the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Both species build conspicuous, above-ground structures and are highly territorial.

Student Poster:

Yes

SEVILLETA LTER Abiotic Pulses and Constraints: Dynamics and stability in an aridland ecosystem

Scott Collins — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:57:53 +0000

Poster Number:

352

Presenter/Primary Author:

Scott Collins

Co-Authors:

Cliff Dahm

Co-Authors:

Marchy Litvak

Co-Authors:

Will Pockman

Co-Authors:

Kristin Vanderbilt

Co-Authors:

Esteban Muldavin

Co-Authors:

Bob Sinsabaugh

Co-Authors:

Blair Wolf

The Sevilleta LTER is located at the intersection of several aridland ecosystem types. Although it is axiomatic that water is the key limiting resource in aridland ecosystems, most arid land soils are also chronically low in nutrients and organic matter. Resource availability is a function of the frequency and size of precipitation events as well as the time between events. As a consequence, NPP and organic matter decomposition are often decoupled in space and time, and soil nutrient supply rates may limit NPP during periods when soil moisture is sufficient for plant growth.

Effect of rainfall pulses on soil CO2 fluxes and ecophysiology of Bouteloua eriopoda in a northern Chihuahuan Desert Grassland: a synthesis of research to date

Michell Thomey — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:02:20 +0000

Poster Number:

345

Presenter/Primary Author:

Michell Thomey

Co-Authors:

Scott Collins

Co-Authors:

Rodrigo Vargas

Co-Authors:

Jennifer Johnson

Co-Authors:

Renee Brown

Co-Authors:

Don Natvig

Co-Authors:

Michael Friggens

Background/Questions/Methods

Student Poster:

Yes

Hydraulic contributions to differential survival during drought in a piñon-juniper woodland

Jen Plaut — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:38:59 +0000

Poster Number:

342

Presenter/Primary Author:

Jen Plaut

Co-Authors:

Enrico A. Yepez

Co-Authors:

Judson Hill

Co-Authors:

Rob Pangle

Co-Authors:

Jennifer Johnson

Co-Authors:

Nate G. McDowell

Co-Authors:

William T. Pockman

Drought-related tree mortality occurs worldwide, including recent episodes in piñon-juniper woodlands of the American west. Although the physiological mechanisms of mortality are poorly understood, carbon starvation may occur in trees that limit transpiration (E) to avoid hydraulic failure.

Student Poster:

Yes

The EcoTrends Project: preview of the book and introduction to the web site

Debra Peters — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:46:43 +0000

Poster Number:

274

Presenter/Primary Author:

Debra Peters

Co-Authors:

Christine Laney

Co-Authors:

Ariel Lugo

Co-Authors:

Scott Collins

Co-Authors:

Charley Driscoll

Co-Authors:

Peter Groffman

Co-Authors:

Morgan Grove

Co-Authors:

Alan Knapp

Co-Authors:

Tim Kratz

Co-Authors:

Mark Ohman

Co-Authors:

Bob Waide

Co-Authors:

Jin Yao

Co-Authors:

Mark Servilla

The EcoTrends Project began in 2004 as a joint collaboration among the LTER Program, USDA Agricultral Research Service, and the USDA Forest Service with two goals: (1) to create a book illustrating trends in long -term data and showing the value of long-term data across a network of sites in addressing continental-scale questions, and (2) to make long-term biotic and abiotic data easily accessible through a common web interface with a focus on derived or aggregated data to allow cross-site analyses to be made.

Ground-dwelling arthropods and environmental factors in two semi-arid habitats: data from 1992-2004

Amaris Swann — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:24:44 +0000

Poster Number:

211

Presenter/Primary Author:

Amaris Swann

Co-Authors:

Sandra L. Brantley

Co-Authors:

David Lightfoot

Co-Authors:

Julieta Bettinelli

Ground-dwelling arthropods, primarily predators and detritivores, form a large part of the energy flow through ecosystems, but there are few long-term studies looking at many taxa. These animals have been monitored at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site since 1990. We report on patterns in relative abundance from 2 study sites: desert grassland and creosotebush shrubland. Arthropods were collected in pitfall traps, operated year-round and collected every 2 months.

The effects of fire on the plant community in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland

Terri Koontz — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:42:41 +0000

Poster Number:

203

Presenter/Primary Author:

Terri Koontz

Co-Authors:

Douglas I. Moore

Co-Authors:

Esteban H. Muldavin

Co-Authors:

Burt Pendleton

Co-Authors:

Scott L. Collins

Disturbance from fire can affect the abundance and distribution of shrubs and grasses in arid ecosystems. Specifically, fire may increase grass and forb production while hindering shrub encroachment. Therefore, prescribed fires are a common management tool for maintaining grassland habitats in the southwest. However, Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama), a dominant species in Chihuahuan Desert grassland, is highly susceptible to fire resulting in death followed by slow recovery rates.

Grassland-Shrubland Transitions Across Sevilleta Landscapes

Debra Peters — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:54:53 +0000

Poster Number:

182

Presenter/Primary Author:

Debra Peters

Co-Authors:

Jim Gosz

Co-Authors:

Jin Yao

Landscapes at the Sevilleta LTER site are dominated or codominated by two perennial grasses from different biomes, Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama) from the Chihuahuan Desert and B. gracilis (blue grama) from the shortgrass steppe, and the Chihuahuan Desert shrub Larrea tridentata (creosotebush). We used a long-term removal study to examine inter-specific interactions between these dominant species, and to determine which species would eventually dominate following the removal of the others.

The effect of heterogeneous landscape dynamics on ecotone type at two convergent semi-arid biomes

Jeremy Klass — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:26:58 +0000

Poster Number:

102

Presenter/Primary Author:

Jeremy Klass

Co-Authors:

Debra P. C. Peters

Student Poster:

Yes