Microbial spatial heterogeneity in microbiotic crusts in Colorado National Monument. II Bacteria

Microbial spatial heterogeneity and bacterial composition of homogeneous surface soils showing evident microbiotic crust development located under Utah juniper canopies in Colorado National Monument were studied. Four distinct homogeneous sampling sites positioned along a 12-m transect were compared on the basis of bacterial density and taxa composition. Bacterial densities showed a range differing by several orders of magnitude. In comparisons of adjacent soil samples or samples taken from two different sampling sites within close proximity, adjacent samples showed no more similarity to each other on the basis of bacterial density or taxa composition than did more widely separated samples. The bacterial composition of these soils included members of the genera Bacillus , Micrococcus , and Arthrobacter . Actinomycetes were also prevalent.     

Microbial spatial heterogeneity in microbiotic crusts in Colorado National Monument. I. Algae

Spatial heterogeneity in visually similar sites under Utah juniper canopy in Colorado National Monument was examined. Sample sites were arranged in a transect 24 m long, such that distances between samples were 0.013 m, 0.03 m, 1.0 m, 12 m, and 24 m. Twenty-five taxa of algae were observed, mostly belonging to Cyanophyta. Algal density varied by more than an order of magnitude within the 46 samples examined. The coefficients of variation for each distance class were very similar, demonstrating that algal patchiness can be as significant on a scale less than 0.013 m as it is on a scale of 24 m. Goodall's random pairing analysis of spatial pattern supported this conclusion by indicating that the minimal area for sampling soil algal crust populations at this site was equal to or less than 0.013 m. Because of the microscale heterogeneity in algal communities in this study, we recommend that future researchers take composite samples if they wish to quantify algae of microbiotic crusts.     

Algal composition of microbiotic crusts from the Central Desert of Baja California, Mexico

A total of 66 algal species representing 32 genera were recovered from soils of 10 sites in the Catavi?a region of the Central Desert of Baja California, Mexico. The most common species encountered were the cyanophytes Nostoc commune and Schizothrix calcicola , the chlorophyte Myrmecia astigmatica , and the diatoms Hantzschia amphioxys, Hantzschia amphyoxys f. capitata, Luticola cohnii, Luticola mutica , and Pinnularia borealis var. scalarts . Nine species not found in any previous studies of North American desert soils were present in our study sites, including 3 taxa new to science: Cylindrocystis brebissonii var. deserti , var. nov.; Elakatothrix obtusata , sp. nov.; and Fasciculochloris mexicana , sp. nov. Attempts to correlate species composition with soil chemical and physical parameters were unsuccessful apart from a pH effect on cyanobacterial distribution. Overall composition of the soil algal community in the Catavi?a region is distinct from other desert sites we have studies, although some cosmopolitan desert soil taxa were present.     

Late Quaternary arthropods from the Colorado Plateau, Arizona and Utah

Late Quaternary-age arthropods were recovered from dry cave deposits and packrat middens located in the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, and Glen Canyon region of the Colorado Plateau. This Quaternary data resource has not been analyzed before from the Colorado Plateau national parks. Radiocarbon dates on the various deposits containing arthropods range from 1510 to 30,660 yr B.P. The fossil assemblages yielded 57 identified taxa of insects, arachnids, and millipedes, including 15 taxa taken to the species level. The information from the fossil insect record of the Colorado Plateau is not yet sufficiently detailed to permit precise paleoenvironmental reconstructions. However, preliminary conclusions suggest a cooler, moister climatic regime during the late Wisconsin glacial and a mosaic of vegetation types, such as grassland and shrubby communities, unlike the present vegetation at the localities.     

Plant adaptation in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau

Adaptive features of plants of the Great Basin are reviewed. The combination of cold winters and an arid to semiarid precipitation regime results in the distinguishing features of the vegetation in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. The primary effects of these climatic features arise from how they structure the hydrologic regime. Water is the most limiting factor to plant growth, and water is most reliably available in the early spring after winter recharge of soil moisture. This factor determines many characteristics of root morphology, growth phenology of roots and shoots, and photosynthetic physiology. Since winters are typically cold enough to suppress growth, and drought limits growth during the summer, the cool temperatures characteristic of the peak growing season are the second most important climatic factor influencing plant habit and performance. The combination of several distinct stress periods, including low-temperature stress in winter and spring and high-temperature stress combined with drought in summer, appears to have limited plant habit to a greater degree than found in the warm deserts to the south. Nonetheless, cool growing conditions and a more reliable spring growing season result in higher water-use efficiency and productivity in the vegetation of the cold desert than in warm deserts with equivalent total rainfall amounts. Edaphic factors are also important in structuring communities in these regions, and halophytic communities dominate many landscapes. These halophytic communities of the cold desert share more species in common with warm deserts than do the nonsaline communities. The Colorado Plateau differs from the Great Basin in having greater amounts of summer rainfall, in some regions less predictable rainfall, sandier soils, and streams which drain into river systems rather than closed basins and salt playas. One result of these climatic and edaphic differences is a more important summer growing season on the Colorado Plateau and a somewhat greater diversification of plant habit, phenology, and physiology.     

Habitat requirements for Erigeron kachinensis , a rare endemic of the Colorado Plateau

Erigeron kachinensis is a rare endemic of the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah. This perennial composite grows in small, isolated populations at seeps and alcoves arising along canyon walls in Cedar Mesa Sandstone substrates. Characteristics of six Erigeron kachinensis sites in Natural Bridges National Monument, San Juan County, Utah, were studied to determine habitat requirements for this species. Sites were analyzed with respect to geology, soil chemistry, physical properties, and vegetational characteristics. The alcoves studied were very saline, often with soil surfaces covered with a white crust of salt. Living cover was enhanced by perennially moist soils, diminished amounts of solar radiation, soil salinity, and above-average amounts of available soil phosphorus. Kachina daisy vegetative growth appears to be favored by these same abiotic factors. The most commonly associated plant species on E. kachinensis sites were Aquilegia micrantha, Calamagrostis scopulorum, Zigadenus vaginatus, and Erigeron kachinensis . These species and the daisy accounted for more than 75% of the total living cover in the alcoves studied. A principal components analysis procedure was developed for evaluating site suitability for Erigeron kachinensis . This daisy has been successfully introduced to a site selected using that model.     

Late Quaternary vegetation and climate in the Escalante River Basin on the central Colorado Plateau

Five alcoves (rock shelters) in the Forty-Mile Canyon—Willow Gulch area of the Escalante River Basin in southeastern Utah yielded rich deposits of late Quaternary macrobotanical remains. The deposits were sampled and the contents identified in order to construct a chronology of vegetational change. Fourteen radiocarbon dates indicate that the fossils were deposited between 12,690 and 7510 yr B.P. (years before present). Ninety-one plant taxa were identified, 62 to species. Six species were common to all alcoves: Gambel oak ( Quercus gambelii ), box-elder ( Acer negundo ), prickly pear ( Opuntia subgenus Platyopuntia), skunkbush ( Rhus aromatica var. trilobata ), serviceberry ( Amelanchier utahensis ), and Indian ricegrass ( Oryzopsis hymenoides ). Late Pleistocene samples (>11,000 yr B.P.) contain extralocal, elevationally depressed species such as Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ), spruce ( Picea sp.), and mountain mahogany ( Cercocarpus ledifolius ), and mesophytic species such as rose ( Rosa woodsii ) and water birch ( Betula occidentalis ). Early Holocene samples (11,000-8000 yr B.P.) contain no elevationally depressed conifers, and the remaining mesophytic species decrease in relative abundance. Reticulated hackberry ( Celtis reticulata ) becomes common. The terminal Early Holocene sample (8000-7000 yr B.P.) contains abundant Gambel oak and prickly pear, but little else. Paleoclimatic interpretations for the Late Pleistocene correspond well to those of most other workers on the Colorado Plateau. Climates that were wetter and at least seasonally cooler than they are today are inferred from the macrobotanical assemblage. However, the increased moisture is attributed to higher stream base levels and increased groundwater rather than directly to increased precipitation. Early Holocene climates are interpreted as warmer and drier than those of the Late Pleistocene but still wetter than the present climate. Groundwater levels appear to be decreasing due to stream entrenchment. Terminal Early Holocene climates were much warmer and at least seasonally drier. By the end of the period, groundwater levels had decreased so much that the alcoves were unable to sustain plant communities; stream base level was probably near the present level.     

Benthic insect fauna of a clean-water stream on Utah's Colorado Plateau, USA

Extensive collecting using a variety of methods was conducted in 1994 and 1995 in association with Pleasant Creek in south central Utah, USA, in an effort to inventory the aquatic insects. Collecting efforts yielded 133 insect taxa from 12 sample sites in 8 study areas from near the headwaters of Pleasant Creek and downstream to where it flows out of Capitol Reef National Park. Applying Protocol III methodology of Plafkin et al. (1989), we determined species assemblages of benthic insects and calculated selected ecological indices based on monthly collections from March through August 1994. Richness, equitability index, and mean diversity index values at all sample sites approached, or were greater than, the generally accepted values for clean-water streams in the mountains of the western United States.     

Plecoptera and Trichoptera species distribution related to environmental characteristics of the metal-polluted Arkansas River, Colorado

The Upper Arkansas catchment has been polluted with heavy metals from mining for almost 140 yr. Adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera species distributions were recorded from 22 stations along 259 km of main river during 1984-85 so that these could be related to metal deposition and other environmental characteristics. Chemically or physically perturbed sites had poor species richness compared with adjacent sites. There was no sequential downstream increase in species numbers. Filter-feeders proportionally increased downstream as predators declined; these proportions were reset at a high-energy site before the trend resumed. Using canonical correspondence analysis, we found that species composition was most strongly related to changes in distance/altitude and to temperature, particularly after regulatory flows entered the river. The proportion of biological variation explained by river measurements indicated that collected adults were largely derived from the main Arkansas River. Species tolerant of high sedimentary metal concentrations were identified while some other species appeared to be sensitive. The study provides a disturbed-state reference for monitoring effects of remedial actions begun in 1991, and for comparisons with other Colorado rivers.     

Changes in riparian vegetation along the Colorado River and Rio Grande, Colorado

Changes in vegetation including area occupied, canopy cover, and maturity class of cottonwoods ( Populus spp.) within lower-elevation zones of the Colorado River and Rio Grande in Colorado were monitored over 25- and 27-year intervals, respectively, using photo-interpretative methods. Estimated loss of cottonwoods along the Colorado River was 2ha/km (-17.5%), and remaining stands had become more open and older. Cottonwoods along the Rio Grande increased 1.6 ha/km (9.3%) with minor canopy cover and maturity class changes. Area occupied by shrubs and river channel changed little along the Colorado River, but declined along the Rio Grande. Loss of hay meadow occurred along both rivers, whereas developed land increased along the Colorado River and farmland increased along the Rio Grande. Wildlife habitats along the Colorado deteriorated much more rapidly than those along the Rio Grande during monitored intervals.     

A fourth new sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic pf the Colorado Plateau and sauropod bipedalism

The new sauropod, Cathetosaurus lewisi , is named and assigned to the Camarasauridae; it was collected from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in western Colorado in 1967. Novel structural features of the skeleton in this genus, particularly in the axial skeleton, enabled it to assume and function to an unknown degree in a bipedal posture. Comparisons are made between C. lewisi and previously described sauropods. The following problems of sauropod locomotion are discussed; (1) sauropods lack two elements, sesamoids and patella, present in titanotheres; (2) sauropod limb and foot musculature, lacking leverage, is very inferior to that of titanotheres; (3) no previously described sauropod displays adequate structural specializations for voluntary bipedalism comparable to that of the new genus Cathetosaurus; (4) great weight and cartilaginous limb and foot joint structure restricted sauropods to a slow tempo of locomotion, suggesting a moderate to low rate of catabolic metabolism. Mammal and sauropod foot bones and their function are compared, and comparisons are made between the weight and structure of modern mobile machines and the locomotion and movement of large sauropods. Occurrence and taphonomy of C. lewisi are discussed.     

Soil microstructure in soils of the Colorado Plateau: the role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus

The role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus in cold-desert soil crusts is investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Crusts from sandstone-, limestone-, and gypsum-derived soils are examined. When dry, polysaccharide sheath material from this cyanobacterium can be seen winding through and across all three types of soil surfaces, attaching to and binding soil particles together. When wet, sheaths and living filaments can be seen absorbing water, swelling and covering soil surfaces even more extensively. Addition of negatively charged material, found both as sheath material and attached clay particles, may affect cation exchange capacity of these soils as well. As a result of these observations, we propose that the presence of this cyanobacterium may significantly enhance soil stability, moisture retention, and fertility of cold-desert soils.     

A Late-Pleistocene / Holocene biotic community from Marmot End Alcove, Escalante River Basin, Colorado Plateau, USA

Skeletal remains of the extinct mountain goat Oreamnos harringtoni and Marmota (marmot), an extralimital species, were recovered from Marmot End Alcove along with remains of montane plants that included Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir), Picea (spruce), Pinus flexilis (limber pine), and Juniperus communis (common juniper). The alcove is located in Harris Wash, a semiarid tributary in an unstudied portion of the Escalante River Basin on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah. A Marmota incisor tooth and montane plant needles returned late Pleistocene AMS dates ranging from 12,300 yr BP to 15,600 yr BP.     

Chironomidae (Diptera) of the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, II: factors influencing distribution

Biogeographic, flow regulation (water clarity and temperature), and temporal influences affect the composition of the chironomid midge assemblage in the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead. This assemblage is dominated by euryecious Nearctic and Holarctic orthocladine taxa (23 of 38 total species, total weighted relative abundance [WRA] = 0.972) and includes a minor Neotropical component. Chironomid species richness increases over distance downstream from the dam, and dominance shifts across 3 turbidity segments. Eleven species occur in the cold-stenothermic Clearwater (CW) segment between the dam and the 1st perennial tributary (the Paria River, 26 km from the dam). Chironomid diversity increases from 18 to 24 species in the variably turbid (VT) and usually turbid (UT) segments downstream, respectively. Total Cricotopus spp. WRA is negatively correlated with distance (turbidity), white total Chironominae WRA shows the opposite pattern. In contrast to chironomid diversity, species density decreases from 0.42 species/km in the CW segment to 0.19 and 0.08 species/km in the VT and UT segments, respectively. Seasonal dominance shifts slightly from orthocladine Eukiefferiella spp. in winter (WRA = 0.101) to Cricotopus spp. (WRA = 0.165) in summer. Total WRA is lowest in spring (0.191). The assemblage is depauperate compared with other western rivers and has changed over post-dam time.     

New species and a new combination of Mentzelia section Bartonia (Loasaceae) from the Colorado Plateau

A new species, Mentzelia (sect. Bartonia ) cronquistii , subfamily Mentzelioideae, is described and a new combination, M. (sect. Bartonia ) marginata (Osterhout) is made. These two species of the Colorado Plateau are closely related to each other, but their relationships to other species in section Bartonia are obscure.     

Chironomidae (Diptera) species distribution related to environmental characteristics of the metal-polluted Arkasas River, Colorado

Mining in the Upper Arkansas catchment has polluted the river with heavy metals for 140 yr. Pupal and adult chironomid species distribution and sedimentary metal concentrations are provided for 22 stations along 259 km of main river during 1984-85. Complete species identification was achieved only recently. This has produced an unprecedented record of chironomid species distribution for a comparable length of river in the USA. Chemically or physically perturbed sites had poor species richness compared with the next site downstream, suggesting that larvae may drift through unfavorable habitats to benign ones. Using canonical correspondence analysis, we found species composition to be most strongly related to variables expressing the longitudinal axis of the river (distance/altitude, temperature, latitude), while toxicity to zinc was a significant secondary correlate. These river-related environmental variables accounted for a greater proportion of pupal species variation than for adults. This was considered to result from a proportion of adults emerging from habitats beyond the main river. Multivariate analysis identified metal-tolerant and -intolerant species. Generic data revealed the same major trends but indicator taxa were lost. The study provides a disturbed-state reference for monitoring effects of remedial actions begun in 1991, and for comparisons with other Colorado rivers.     

Diets of young Colorado squawfish and other small fish in backwaters of the Green River, Colorado and Utah

We compared diet of young-of-year Colorado squawfish ( Ptychocheilus lucius ), an endangered cyprinid, with diets of other fish Rhinichthys osculus, Catostomus discobolus, and C. latipinnts , and nonnative Cyprinella lutrensis, Notropis stramineus, Pimephales promelas, Ictalurus punctatus, and Lepomis cyanellus. For each species, diet varied with size and between upper and lower river reaches but not between seasons for fish of similar size. Larval chironomids and ccratopogonids were principal foods of most fishes. Copepods and cladocerans were important in diets of P. lucius L. cyanellus Catostomus discobolus was the only species that ate moderate amounts of algae. Fish (all larvae) were in digestive tracts of only 10 P. lucius (21-73 mm TL), about 1% of P. lucius analyzed. High diet overlap occurred between some size-reach groups of P. lucius and C. lutrensis, R. osculus, C. latipinnis, I. punctatus, and L. cyanellus . Potential for food competition between young-of-year P. lucius and other fishes in backwaters appeared greatest with the very abundant C. lutrensis .     

Notes on the birds of Cold Spring Mountain, northwestern Colorado

Observations are presented on 117 bird species seen in a 250-km 2 area of northwestern Colorado adjacent to Utah and Wyoming. Three previously unreported species and seven status changes are listed for the Rangely, Colorado, latilong block.     

Incidence of the leech Helobdella stagnalis on the Colorado River in west central Colorado

Fifty-seven fish of three genera were taken from the Colorado River in west central Colorado and examined for external parasites. No external parasites were found on Ictalurus. Seven percent of the Hybognathus and 100 percent of the Catastomus were infected with a Hirudinean of the species Helobdella stagnalis.        

Food and habitat relationships of Claassenia sabulosa (Plecoptera: Perlidae) in the Upper Colorado River, Colorado

Streambed surveys were conducted along the upper Colorado River, Colorado, to describe the distributions of Claassenia sabulosa larvae in relation to current speed and to determine their diets. We also addressed diel feeding periodicity by sampling during both day and night. Claassenia sabulosa was more abundant in riffle habitats than in runs. A positive relationship existed between C. sabulosa abundance and stream current, with larval size increasing with current speed. Chironomidae, Baetidae, and Simulidae collectively accounted for 93% of the prey found in stonefly guts; however, these categories were not consumed equally by all C. sabulosa . Smaller C. sabulosa primarily ate chironomids, and larger individuals consumed more baetids. Only a slight difference existed in the percentage of empty guts between night- and day-collected stoneflies, and ranges of prey per gut at night were higher than those in the day, suggesting that these stoneflies may forage more intensively at night.