Larry Jones, USDA Forest Service

The Coronado National Forest in southeastern Arizona encompasses portions of 12 mountain ranges called the Sky Island Archipelago, including the Chiricahua Mountains, shown here. GSD biologists conducted an assessment of vulnerability of species to climate change that included animal species that occur in the Chiricahua Mountains.

Climate is one of the most fundamental drivers affecting ecosystem processes. Rapid climate change documented over the last few decades and predicted changes in the future make it imperative to understand its widespread impacts. GSD scientists are studying climate change in the following ways: evaluating the effect of historic climatic change on biotic communities, monitoring contemporary changes to ecosystems, evaluating the risk of potential future climate change to species and populations, investigating how climate interacts with disturbances and invasive species, and developing approaches to mitigate potential impacts to threatened communities and species.

Projects

• Classical Biological Control of Dalmatian (Linaria dalmatica), Yellow (L. vulgaris) and Hybrid (L. dalmatica x L. vulgaris) Toadflax
• Does Drought Exacerbate Damage Caused by Bark-Beetle-Associated Fungi in Piñon-Juniper Woodland Ecosystems?
• Ecological Genetics of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata): Genetic Structure and Climate Responsive Seed Zone Mapping
• Ecology, Management and Restoration of Great Basin Meadow Ecosystems
• Exploring the Potential for Cheatgrass Biocontrol with Naturally Occurring Fungal Pathogens
• Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project
• Management of Prairie Dog Colonies for Grassland Sustainability
• Monitoring and Evaluation for Conserving Biological Resources of the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area
• Potential Use of Biochar, a By-Product of Converting Biomass to Bioenergy, as an Amendment to Substrates Used to Grow Native Plants
• Predicting and Mitigating Potential Climate Change Effects on a Regionally Dominant Ecotonal Desert Shrub
• Salt-Desert Shrubland Stability as Affected by Livestock Grazing, Invasive Weeds and Climate Variability
• Shrub Encroachment, Wildland Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Sequestration in Three Southwestern Grassland Ecosystems
• Tools to Assess and Assist Vulnerable Species at Risk from Climate Change