Spring 2022

Spring 2022
In the Mojave Desert, woodrats commonly nest beneath buckhorn cholla. Students measured cholla with and without woodrat nests beneath them to determine whether the presence of the rodents affected cholla size. These and all other final projects of the Spring 2022 California Ecology and Conservation Program were conducted at the NRS’s Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center. Image: Siddharth Malik

Perceived predation risk does not affect bat foraging in the Mojave Desert
Caleb J. Horton, Jocelyn T. Rodriguez, Rushi N. Tawade, Natalia Zenteno

Creosote (Larrea tridentata) influences on canopy and ground dwelling invertebrate communities
Sindhu Bala, Lyra Martin, Ashley Penaloza

Mojave Desert biological soil crusts promote grass seed germination via surface structure
Yuntian Bi, Phoebe Carpenter, Royale Pinassi, Sofia Potenciano

Effect of physiological condition and refuge presence on flight initiation distance in common side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana)
Timothy Chen, Jennifer L. Dabbert, Sarah S. Euchner , Mason R. Rogers

The effect of coyote and woodrat scat on surrounding desert vegetation
Paloma Lobos, Julie Marco, Anthony Olea-Romo, J. Finn Schwartz

The impact of desert woodrats (Neotoma lepida) on stress levels of buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa)
Siddharth Malik, Max Roberts, Ryan Kinzel