Winter 2021 Southern Run

Volume 5, Issue 2

Winter 2021 Southern Run
Lichen are important members of the desert community, helping to fix nitrogen and provide resources to other organisms. In this issue, student researchers investigate the role of sunlight exposure and slope in shaping lichen diversity at Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center. Image: Francisco Basso

Soil crust does not have an effect on the health of Cylindropuntia echinocarpa
James Vergara Cortes, Jennifer Tran, Jude Christian Jimenez Abueg, Katie Pogue

Two cholla species exhibit adaptive plasticity in their solar radiation avoidance strategies
Josiah Berkov-Kemp, Tyler Hannum, Cassidy Ricks

Implications of sex and location on California junipers (Juniperus californica) at their marginal habitat in the Mojave Desert
Paige Angne, Sofia Malinovsky, Tammy Nguyen, Giselle Wendt

The effects of sunlight and slope on the lichen community of the Sweeney Granite Mountains reserve
Kha Cung, Litzia Galvan, Hann Osborne, Samantha Spiegel

Paving the way for habitat disturbance: Different road types have distinct ecological impacts on annual plant communities and gall-forming insects in the Mojave Desert
Maria Carias, Emily Hascall, Kelsey Pennington, Jasmine Summers-Evans

Evidence of niche partitioning among small mammals in the Eastern Mojave Desert from scat distribution
Jacob Ferrall, Lucy Malamud-Roam, Roxana Ramirez, Zishi Wu

Desert night lizards (Xantusia vigilis) favor shelter under partially decomposed Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera) logs
Francisco Basso, Athena Lynch, Alia Warden