The Science Newsletter is a collaborative effort between the Granite Mountains Desert Research Center and Mojave National Preserve to highlight research being conducted in the area. This annual publication aims to promote a better understanding of the Mojave Desert through a range of topics representing a wide variety of disciplines. Articles range from interesting discoveries to highly technical reports, all of which are presented for a broad audience. You may download a pdf version of each year by clicking on the issue below.
2021 Issue
- Storm Clouds Over Cima Dome – Tracking Vegetation Change after the Fire. Joseph R. McAuliffe.
- Impact of Schismus on Biodiversity in Mojave Desert Winter Annual Vegetation Communities. T. Ohlert, A. Hallmark, G. Hamilton, J. Mclaughlin, M. Patton, S. Collins.
- The Polarizing Nature of Shrubs: Species-specific Associations of Annual Plants with Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata). S.M. Haas-Desmarais and C.J. Lortie.
2020 Issue
- Pre-Eurosettlement Wildfires in Mojave National Preserve. Joseph R. McAuliffe.
- Using Gravity to Map Faults and Basins in the Mojave Desert, California. Victoria E. Langenheim.
- A Suntan Effect in the Mojave Desert Moss Syntrichia caninervis. Jenna T. B. Ekwealor.
- The Dome Fire. Drew Kaiser and Debra Hughson.
2019 Issue
- Using a Rock-Climbing Robot to Access Extreme Terrain Environments. K. Uckert and A. Parness.
- Mojave Climate Hidden in Lake Mud. Matthew E. Kirby, Stefanie A. Mayer, William T. Anderson, Brenna Hess, Corey Stout, Jennifer Palermo, Jenifer Leidelmeijer, Hogan Rangel, Gregory Weisberg, and Amanda Shellhorn.
- Video technologies aid in the study of foundation plants: A case example using a shrub annual. Jenna Braun.
- Scientific serendipity at Granite Mountain leads to description of novel ant hunting behaviors of spiders. Madison Sankovitz and Jessica Purcell.
2018 Issue
- Predator-prey interactions between rattlesnakes and kangaroo rats. Malachi D. Whitford, Grace A. Freymiller, and Rulon W. Clark.
- California’s glandular plants; where sticky situations are an advantage. Eric LoPresti.
- Interspecific floral diversity in the California evening primrose, Oenothera californica subsp. avita. T. Jogesh, G. T. Broadhead, R. A. Raguso, and K. A. Skogen.
- Revisiting an old question in California botany: Why do many plant species have five-petaled flowers? James Mickley and Carl Schlichting.
- In memoriam – Robert Fulton
2017 Issue
- Grinnell resurveys document the colonization of the Zone-tailed Hawk (Buteo albonotatus) in Mojave National Preserve. Lori Hargrove, Philip Unitt, Lea Squires, and Troy Maikis.
- Desert salt flats as refugia for terrestrial arthropods. Sarah C. Crews and Lauren A. Esposito.
- Phenology mediates reproductive success in the desert annual Chylismia brevipes. Katharine L. Gerst and D. Lawrence Venable.
2016 Issue
- Updates on respiratory disease affecting desert bighorn sheep in and near Mojave National Preserve. Clinton W. Epps, Daniella Dekelaita, and Brian Dugovich.
- Habitat selection and head-starting of desert tortoises in Mojave National Preserve. A. Justin Nowakowski, and Brian D. Todd.
- Insolation-related mechanical weathering of desert pavement rocks in the Mojave Desert. Martha-Cary Eppes.
- Old dog, new tricks: advancing facilitation theory in the Mojave Desert. Alessandro Filazzola, Amanda Rae Liczner, and Ally Ruttan.
2015 Issue
- Prehistoric human settlement and lithic technology around Soda Lake. Edward J. Knell.
- What can Chorizanthe rigida propagule morphology tell us about rainfall variability and geomorphology in desert ecosystems? Alejandra Martínez-Berdeja and Exequiel Ezcurra.
- The natural history and behavior of the sand wasp Steniolia nigripes (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). Gilene M. Young.
- Morphological and genetic diversity in reptiles at Mojave National Preserve. Eric J. Routman, Camille Clarkson Smith, Erica M. Rutherford, Michael T. J. Hague, and Steven Micheletti.
- Endolithic cyanobacteria in the Mojave Desert: a cold habitat in a hot desert? Henry J. Sun, James Nienow, Gaosen Zhang, Duane P. Moser, and Christopher P. McKay.
2014 Issue
- Genetic research reveals Pleistocene origin and low genetic diversity of the Mojave fringe-toed lizard (Uma scoparia). Andrew Gottscho.
- Past and present highlights of nematode research in the Mojave Desert. Paul De Lay.
- Three wasps, three plants, one ant: life history of desert Orasema. John Heraty.
- Watching plants move: tracking landscape effects on movement in the common desert shrub catclaw acacia [Acacia (Senegalia) greggii A Gray]. Keith Gaddis.
- New poppies from the Mojave. Shannon Still.