Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center

02 Jul, 01 PM - 23 Jul, 01 PM

I would like to continue my research on the importance of foundation plant species on animal burrow patterns in the Mojave Desert. I would like to stay at the Sweeny Granites Research Center and use it as my home base to conduct burrow count surveys on UC land and BLM land. The goal of my study is to determine how fauna, specifically reptiles utilize burrows in correlation with shrub density since habitat selection in desert herpetofauna is based primarily on habitat thermal properties rather than food availability because of their physiological dependence on temperatures from the surrounding environment. Shrubs can maintain the diversity of desert plant communities and it is speculated that they also play significant roles in the thermal ecology of desert herpetofauna. The thermal quality of an environment directly influences the time and energy that ectotherms must invest to maintain an optimal body temperature. Shrubs can play a key role in the structure of desert communities, functioning as important foundation species. Shrubs are capable of supporting higher levels of most biodiversity indicators in drylands due to the facilitative benefits that they provide to both plant and animal species. Specifically, shrubs aid in habitat amelioration where the density of shrubs in different habitats can increase the abundance and diversity of desert animals by ameliorating the extreme daytime temperatures and risk of predation. The hypothesis proposed is thus that foundation plant species directly influence herpetofauna communities in drylands. This research will contribute to a novel understanding of the critical habitat needs of desert herpetofauna by examining whether a simple proxy for habitat, i.e. shrubs and burrow presence, can be used to infer the health and resilience of drylands herpetofauna.

Visit #85041 @Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center

Approved

Under Project # 52204 | Research

The importance of foundation species on animal burrow patterns in Central California Deserts

graduate_student - York University

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ethan owen Jul 2 - 23, 2023 (22 days)

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Carbuncle East 1 Jul 2 - 23, 2023