The pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) is a sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) obligate that depends on sagebrush habitats for food and cover throughout its life cycle. Invasive species, frequent fires, overgrazing, conversion of land to agriculture, energy development, and many other factors have contributed to recent declines in both quantity and quality of sagebrush habitats required by pygmy rabbits. Given declining availability of sagebrush, there is a need to identify characteristics of suitable pygmy rabbit habitat. Although habitat selection information exists from several western states, data is limited for pygmy rabbits in Utah at the extent of their range. We sampled 77 different habitat variables at occupied (n = 72) and unoccupied (n = 61) sites in Utah. We then used random forests to determine which variables best discriminated between occupied and unoccupied sites. We predicted that sites occupied by pygmy rabbits would have greater percentages of sagebrush, greater amounts of cover, and greater mean sagebrush age compared to unoccupied sites. Occupied sites had greater horizontal obscurity (measure of cover), occurred at higher elevations, had greater percent understory composed of sagebrush and other shrubs, and lower percent sagebrush decadence than unoccupied sites. Contrary to our predictions, sagebrush age at occupied sites was not an important variable and mean age did not differ by site type. We suggest managers use this information to help identify suitable pygmy rabbit habitats to further conservation of this imperiled lagomorph.

The large columnar cactus Carnegiea gigantea branches to increase reproductive output. The branches of this keystone species also provide shelter to a large portion of the Sonoran Desert's fauna. In this study, branch length was used to reconstruct branch establishment at 2 populations to determine branching patterns over time and the relationship across populations. Branches showed high establishment but relatively low survival. Either more branches establish than eventually survive or growth is slow when branches are smaller, thereby biasing the distribution of lengths due to the differences in growth rate. Also, the distribution of branch lengths (i.e., branch generation over time) reflects a cohort pattern, indicating that there are favorable and poor years for branch production. Further, a significant relationship in peaks and troughs is detected between the 2 very different populations, suggesting a regional influence over branching that extends beyond a population or local area.

We documented the effect of drought-induced mortality of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis Engelm.) on communities of ground-dwelling arthropods. Tree mortality alters microhabitats utilized by ground-dwelling arthropods by increasing solar radiation, dead woody debris, and understory vegetation. Our major objectives were to determine (1) whether there were changes in community composition, species richness, and abundance of ground-dwelling arthropods associated with pinyon mortality and (2) whether specific habitat characteristics and microhabitats accounted for these changes. We predicted shifts in community composition and increases in arthropod diversity and abundance due to the presumed increased complexity of microhabitats from both standing dead and fallen dead trees. We found significant differences in arthropod community composition between high and low pinyon mortality environments, despite no differences in arthropod abundance or richness. Overall, 22% (51 taxa) of the arthropod community were identified as being indicators of either high or low mortality. Our study corroborates other research indicating that arthropods are responsive to even moderate disturbance events leading to changes in the environment. These arthropod responses can be explained in part due to the increase in woody debris and reduced canopy cover created by tree mortality.

Understanding the causes of narrow endemism is crucial to conservation, particularly in biodiversity hotspots like the California Floristic Province. The loss of rare species as a consequence of climate change could result in substantial reductions in biodiversity, especially in high-elevation systems. We investigated causes of range restriction by using the narrow alpine endemic Abronia alpina (Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena) as a case study. This study examined habitat suitability as a limiting factor for the establishment of Abronia alpina, an endemic native to only 2 meadow systems in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA. We tested habitat suitability by (a) using vegetation community composition and diversity as a proxy; (b) measuring key physical environmental characteristics (i.e., soil moisture, pH, soil texture, and surface soil temperature); and (c) establishing experimental field and greenhouse germination tests that exposed seeds to soils from several potentially suitable meadows. These 10 apparently suitable meadow systems were compared to the currently occupied meadow. Our results suggest that though there is some difference in suitable habitat among the 10 meadows studied, most meadows are relatively similar, for the rest of the measured parameters, to the native meadow. Vegetation community composition in the occupied meadow differed significantly from 8 of the surveyed meadows but was similar to 2 meadows. However, species diversity and richness in the native meadow did not generally differ from other surveyed meadows. Seven of 10 meadows were significantly colder than the occupied meadow, but 3 meadows with similar elevation ranges were equivalent. Range restriction does not appear to be a result of physical soil conditions, but cooler minimum temperatures may play a role. Although seeds only germinated in 2 of the tested meadows in field trials, dispersal limitation may be important in the species' restricted range, as seed germination was not significantly different among any meadow soils. Thus, nonhabitat factors, such as seed dispersal or recent speciation, may be the cause for the narrow range of A. alpina. Given stable climatic conditions, we recommend 3 meadow systems for establishment if recent population declines continue and relocation is deemed necessary. We also identify 7 other meadows that may be suitable, given a changing climate.

We studied Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) habitat use during spring and summer 2011 on the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in the Red Rolling Plains of west Texas. We captured 9 roadrunners (1 male, 8 females) and fitted each with a 10-g backpack-style radio-transmitter. We relocated roadrunners 2–4 times per week from February to August. Roadrunners used a mean minimum convex polygon home range of 43.0 ha, a 50% core range of 11.9 ha, and 33% overlap between adjacent home ranges. Home ranges were approximately half the size of those reported in a recent study of roadrunners in north Texas. Habitat selection ratios showed that roadrunners selected for ridge and grassland vegetation types and avoided bare ground and flatland vegetation types at both first- and second- but not third-order levels of selection. Similar results were documented for roadrunners in north Texas.

Rapidly declining diversity of freshwater species necessitates surveys to document and describe patterns in biodiversity. To this end, a survey of Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) was conducted in a remote watershed of western Alaska. Larval chironomids were collected from 16 stream sites in the Kuskokwim River watershed in 2009 and 2010. Twenty-seven chironomid taxa were identified. Orthocladiinae was the most diverse subfamily and was numerically dominant at all sites except a glacial runoff stream where Diamesinae was numerically dominant. Two rare chironomids were collected in the study: an undescribed species of Stilocladius and a species of Orthocladius (Mesorthocladius). The latter genus has only 2 described species in North America, one in Ohio and one in Minnesota. Results of a nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis indicated that sites varied based on changes in elevation, conductivity, pH, and percent Diamesinae. Two high-elevation sites, one at the outflow of a lake and the other located along the glacial runoff stream, supported the most taxa in this study. Another lower-elevation springbrook also supported a relatively diverse assemblage of chironomids. Otherwise, diversity and richness was low at most sites. In Chironomidae, adults are often necessary for identification of many taxa to species, and so collection of adults should be a focus of future sampling of streams in western Alaska.

We compiled distribution data on Ammophila collected in the Grand Canyon ecoregion (GCE) in northern Arizona and southern Utah. We report 35 species occurring from 350 to 2865 m elevation. Three new state records are reported for Arizona and one for Utah. A total of 73.8%–80.5% of the 41 Arizona Ammophila species occur in the GCE, and 16 species were detected in Grand Canyon National Park. Four species in Utah's portion of the GCE are not known to occur in Arizona. Five Ammophila species were frequently captured (A. azteca, A. pruinosa complex, A. breviceps, A. acuta, and A. strenua), whereas most species were relatively infrequently encountered. Four species were detected only at single localities, but no evidence of localized endemism was found. Flight periods generally extended across the growing season, but 4 species appeared to fly in springtime and before the onset of the summer rainy season. Raw species richness was unimodally distributed across elevation, with a peak at 1750 m; however, adjustment of species richness by land area within 100-m elevation belts produced a linear decrease of species density across elevation (R² = 0.733). This pattern indicates conformance to the temperate-to-tropical negative relationship between species richness and latitude. Four species were found only below 1500 m elevation, whereas 5 species were detected at upper elevations, indicating that only 25.7% of the fauna appear to be constrained by elevation. Thus, we report relatively high GCE Ammophila species richness, relatively weak ecotonal impacts on the assemblage along the southern Colorado Plateau geologic province boundary, and modest corridor and barrier/filter landform impacts of Grand Canyon on this genus.

Seventy-four representatives of 8 species of whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis ssp.), from Mexico were examined for helminths: Aspidoscelis calidipes (n = 8), A. communis (n = 10), A. cozumelae (n = 9), A. gularis (n = 10), A. lineattissima (n = 9), A. motaguae (n = 11), A. parvisocia (n = 9), and A. sackii (n = 8). We found one species of Cestoda, Oochoristica scelopori, and 7 species of Nematoda, including Abbreviata terrapenis, Parapharyngodon alvarengai, Pharyngodon warneri, Spauligodon garciaprietoi, Spinicauda spinicauda, Thubunaea cnemidophorus, and Physaloptera sp. Mean helminth diversity per lizard species was 3.1 (SD 1.8). Spauligodon garciaprietoi was present in 6 of 8 (75%) of the lizard species. The specimens we examined were infected by an aggregate of helminths that were either characteristic of Aspidoscelis spp. from the United States (North America: O. scelopori, T. cnemidophorus, A. terrapenis, P. warneri) or characteristic of Aspidoscelis spp. from Mexico (Mesoamerica: S. garciaprietoi, P. alvarengai, S. spinicauda). Twentytwo new host records are reported.

There are reports of open polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes causing bird deaths in the western United States (Brattstrom 1995). Here, we document cases of open bollards and open pipes on gates causing bird deaths in northern New Mexico. At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a 10,240-ha site, over 100 uncapped 10.16 cm diameter protective bollard posts were examined, and 27% of the open bollards contained dead birds. A total of 88 open pipes used as gate posts, with diameters of 8.89 cm or 10.16 cm, were examined, and 11% contained dead birds. We conducted a preliminary assessment of open pipes on gates along a highway on federal land north of LANL, and 14% of the open pipes contained dead birds. This gate configuration, with open pipes anchoring the gate on either side, is very common in the western United States. In all cases, Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) composed the majority of the identifiable birds we discovered. Based on these preliminary findings, the number of bird deaths from this source is potentially very large and should be a concern in bird conservation and management.

We report the first observations of feeding behavior by free-ranging New Mexico meadow jumping mice (Zapus hudsonius luteus). We made observations during a radiotelemetry study of Z. h. luteus in the floodplain of the Rio Grande at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro Co., New Mexico, in 2009 and 2010. We observed Z. h. luteus eat the achenes or seeds of the order Cyperales: common threesquare (Schoenoplectus pungens), spikerush (Eleocharis spp.), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum), Saunder's wildrye (Elymus saundersii), Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus), slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus), and knotgrass (Paspalum distichum). Mice frequently foraged 0.5–1 m above the ground in the canopy of herbaceous vegetation. Seed heads for consumption were harvested in several ways.

Merriam's Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami) is a species of interest for managers and is considered economically valuable through wildlife viewing and hunting. We captured, radio-marked, and monitored 49 turkeys (27 males, 22 females) over a 3-year period (2008–2011) in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Annual Kaplan-Meier survival estimates varied among years (range 0.33–0.80). Lowest seasonal survival of 0.42 (SE 0.14) occurred during winter 2010 (1 Dec 2009–31 Mar 2010). We observed 20 fatalities of the 49 monitored turkeys. Predation by bobcats (Lynx rufus) and pumas (Puma concolor) accounted for 60% (n = 12) of losses. Hunter harvest (20%), vehicle collision (5%), disease (5%), and unknown causes (10%) accounted for the remaining losses.

We describe the roosting and foraging behavior patterns of western small-footed myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum) observed during a vertebrate inventory of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in north central Oregon. We used radiotelemetry to track 9 adult females, including 3 lactating and 6 postlactating bats, during July-September 2003. We found that these bats showed considerable fidelity to a common foraging area at the confluence of the John Day River and a tributary creek along which bats commuted and roosted. Individual bats did not roost together, but each showed high fidelity to local clusters of rock outcrops in small side canyons along the tributary. Roosts were not found in large, exposed cliff faces, despite the availability of such features. Rather, radio-tagged bats roosted in smaller outcrops that averaged 4.5 m in height. Bats commuted up to 12 km from roosts in the tributary canyon to the common foraging site at the river confluence and remained on the wing to forage for up to 4 h before returning to day roosts. No radio-tagged bats were observed using night roosts, even after pups were weaned. Our study provides a description of roosting, commuting, and foraging activity, as well as habitat use, of western small-footed myotis. This information provides a nuanced perspective on the ecology of canyon-dwelling bats in the region. Such perspective could be useful for conservation and habitat management.

During a laboratory study of pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) hunting behavior, we observed an interaction wherein an adult female appeared to aid a juvenile male in learning a novel foraging task. This single observation adheres to the 3 requirements of teaching outlined by Caro and Hauser (1992). A female bat experienced with a hunting task modified her behavior in the presence of a naïve observing male, resulting in a cost of reduced food availability to the female when she was hungry, while directing the male to food resources and accelerating his learning of a foraging task. The experienced female bat altered her behavior in the presence of a naïve male by nonaggressively approaching the perched male several times before flying to a bowl of live mealworms. Within minutes, her behavior led to the initiation of the foraging task by the naïve male. In sharp contrast, 5 other bats took 4–12 nights to learn this foraging task. Audio recordings of contact calls made during the interaction show possible information transfer via acoustic signals. We hope this lone observation will stimulate research on teaching in bats.