Savannas lie between the equatorial rain forests and the semi-deserts of the southern continents. From the herbivore’s viewpoint, the savanna environment is characterized by a mixture of herbaceous and woody vegetation, varying in quantity and growth stage according to the seasonal cycle of rainfall. C4 grasses (i.e. those with the C4 photosynthetic pathway) dominate the herbaceous layer, which...

Harsh habitats dominated by invasive species are difficult to restore. Invasive grasses in arid environments slow succession toward more desired composition, yet grass removal exacerbates high light and temperature, making the use of "nurse plants" an appealing strategy. In this study of degraded subtropical woodlands dominated by alien grasses in Hawai'i, we evaluated whether individuals of tw...

Introduction Outcomes attributable to the research funded through the 2005 NCPPT grant can be summarized as follows: 1) Protocols for the detection of archaeological sites through the analysis of commercially available synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multispectral images. Previously existing protocols for site detection through image analysis had utilized images generated from synthetic aper...

Semi-arid ecosystems play a key role in global agricultural production, seasonal carbon cycle dynamics, and longer-run climate change. Because semi-arid landscapes are heterogeneous and often sparsely vegetated, repeated and large-scale ecosystem assessments of these regions have to date been impossible. Here, we assess the potential of high-spatial resolution visible band imagery for semi-arid...

Climatic warming is likely to exacerbate nutritional stress and reduce weight gain in large mammalian herbivores by reducing plant nutritional quality. Yet accurate predictions of the effects of climatic warming on herbivores are limited by a poor understanding of how herbivore diet varies along climate gradients. We utilized DNA metabarcoding to reconstruct seasonal variation in the diet of No...

Timber is frequently salvage-logged following high-severity stand-replacing wildfire, but the practice is controversial. One concern is that compound disturbances could result in more deleterious impacts than either disturbance individually, with mechanical operations having the potential to set back recovering native species and increase invasion by non-native species. Following the 2002 Cone ...

Deep percolation enhancement from recycled wastewater irrigation may contribute to salt accumulation and water table elevation that can ultimately cause soil and ground water degradation. Variation of drainage rate and solute leaching were investigated in an urban park containing heterogeneous landscape plants that were irrigated with recycled wastewater. Field monitoring was undertaken at Veal...