Research and Mentoring for Postbaccalaureates (RaMP)

Pinyon pine is one of two tree species defining the habitat of dry southwestern forests and is projected to disappear from broad swaths of its range under climate change. Collaborators at Navajo Technical University have noted increasing loss of pinyon pine to drought and to increases in fuelwood cutting with the closure of a local coal mine. Loss of pine nut harvest is of concern to many tribes in the region, and the NPS is also concerned about climate change impacts and restoration after fire. Finally, there is growing concern in the US Forest Service and Great Basin Bird Observatory over decline in pinyon jay population.

Research questions to aid climate change mitigation in pinyon-juniper ecosystems may include:

• How important is genetic diversity for maintaining populations through unprecedented disturbance?
• What are the patterns of current and predicted loss of pinyon pine on tribal lands?
• How can soil microorganisms and biocrusts enhance re-establishment after catastrophic fire?
• What are the impacts of pinyon decline on pinyon jays?

This research area will include opportunities for field monitoring, lab work, genetics, and mapping involving plants, microbes, insects, and pinyon jays.

Emory oak is one of two dominant oaks species in central Arizona and a cultural keystone species for western Apache Tribes. Emory oak acorns are a first food for western Apache people and integrated into nearly all Apache ceremonies. Climate change, fire suppression, and introduction of domesticated livestock degraded Emory oak habitat, leading tribal elders to express concern over the future of southwestern Emory oak populations. This led to the creation of the Emory Oak Collaborative Tribal Restoration Initiative (E-OCTRI), a collaboration of four Tribal Nations, researchers, private industry, and the US Forest Service and overseen by a tribal elder steering committee. The goal of this initiative is to ensure resilience of Emory oak stands under climate change and other environmental stressors and promote viable oak populations to sustain acorn harvest for future generations of Apache people.

In the first year of RAMP, we will investigate questions about the condition of Emory oak populations aligned with interests of the Emory oak elder steering committee:

• How do environmental conditions (eg. Fire, herbivory and precipitation) affect Emory oak reproduction, acorn germination and seedling survival, and seedling recruitment?

We will develop fundamental knowledge on Emory oak acorn dispersal, habitat requirements, and range wide growth, survival, and disease dynamics. Fellows will employ ecological survey techniques, vegetation identification skills, and capacity related to sampling design and essential Geographic Information Systems (GIS) skills. This pod provides a tool kit to understand fundamental ecological concepts, interpret ecological research and reports, develop, and implement comprehensive monitoring plans for natural resource management, and generate recovery and management strategies for species of concern.

Grazing, climate change, and invasive plants are interacting threats to dryland ecosystems of the southwest. Using biocrusts and soil organisms to stabilize soils and return ecosystem functions and restore native plant communities and fire cycles are of key interest across all stakeholders, including tribal and federal agencies, NGOs, and businesses, and have been areas of rapid research expansion. Integrating Indigenous knowledge of pre-colonial landscapes and functions is a new and critical area where we will expand to guide management planning and restoration efforts, incorporating collaboration from stakeholder groups such as the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) and Trees Water, People on the Jemez District in New Mexico forested lands, and BLM, TNC, NPS and USGS partnerships in rangeland and desert ecosystems in Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California. In addition to the grasses and biocrusts in these ecosystem, numerous other plants traditionally used by Indigenous and local populations for food, dye, medicine, fiber or ceremonial uses are affected by changing climate. Since Native American Reservations represent a fraction of the territory once inhabited by tribes, access to populations of traditional use plants on public lands is imperative to the continuation of cultural practices. Nine Tribal Nations, in collaboration with the USFS, are coming together to collect data on select plants using citizen science to support traditional harvest and improve management of these species.

Participants in this research group will work to assess the effectiveness of management actions, such as grazing and fire management and ‘seeding’ of biocrust, grasses, and forbs to promote ecosystem health and sustainability.

Research questions to aid conservation and management of drylands might include the following:

• How do climate change, fire and/or grazing pressures interact to affect plant and soil community stability and health?
• Does restoration of soil communities lead to development of soil stability and native plant communities?
• Can we restore dryland communities for climate and land use sustainability?
• Is there a grazing level that is compatible with soil and plant community health and stability?

Fellows in this group will gain experience in field, laboratory, and greenhouse studies, learning tools including survey methods, experimental design, soil organism and plant identification, microscopy, GIS, etc.

Springs, rivers, and ponds provide water for humans, livestock, and wildlife and also support aquatic species from vegetation to invertebrates and amphibians. These aquatic ecosystems represent a small but essential part of the dry southwestern landscape, and can be heavily impacted by both land use and climate change. Projects in this group seek to support Tribal and Federal agencies working to monitor and restore these ecosystems. Projects may focus on the health of aquatic and riparian ecosystems across the landscape, or strategies for restoring biodiversity in particular sites.

Research questions to aid conservation of aquatic and riparian ecosystems:

• How are land management and climate change affecting the quality and availability of aquatic habitats?
• Which riparian plants will continue to thrive and support their ecosystems in hotter and drier conditions?
• Can restoring riparian and aquatic vegetation help us conserve a diverse community of aquatic invertebrates and amphibians?

Fellows in this group may gain experience with field surveys, laboratory or greenhouse experiments, microscope and/or DNA-based identification of animal diversity, and/or remote sensing and GIS analysis, depending on the project. All fellows will learn how to take a research project from design of data collection through data analysis to interpretation and presentation of results.