+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | JORNADA LTER | | New Mexico State University | | Research Project Description Form | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ All Jornada Desert Site NSF / LTER projects must be documented on the following form. In addition, associated data sets must also be described on Data Set Documentation Forms, available from the data manager. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project ID: PRL2002030 1) Project title: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Animal Transects 2) Responsible investigator: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. C. Lightfoot 3) Date research commenced (mm/dd/yyyy): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 03/08/1998 4) Date research terminated (mm/dd/yyyy): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12/02/1994 5) PI funding the research: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jornada LTER II 6) Additional investigator(s): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- W. G. Whitford 7) Funding agency (ex. NSF, USDA): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NSF/LTER 8) Funding cycle (Ex. LTER II, N/A): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- LTER II 9) Informative abstract (Describe research project completely. Include project OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jackrabbits and desert cottontail rabbits are the most abundant non-domestic herbivores in the Chihuahuan Desert. We hypothesize that lagamorph populations were extremely low in desert grasslands prior to desertification because rabbits depend upon shrubs for water (bark and small stems), during the winter dry season. Data on population densities of rabbits in various habitats over a series of years is needed to test this hypothesis. We further hypothesize that rabbit populations will crash when winters and early summers are especially dry. Birds can be sensitive indicators of environmental change and also respond to habitat structure. We census birds on regular basis to examine the variability in patterns of abundance among habitats and among years. We predict that grassland and mesquite dune habitats will support fewer birds than the more heterogeneous shrubland habitats. Location and methods. Transects 1 km in length have been established in one area in each of 5 habitats. Three-meter lengths of rebar were driven into the soil at 50 m intervals. Each length has a section of whit PVC pipe attached to the top to facilitate line of sight orientation by an observer. An observer walks each transect once every two weeks. 10) Dataset(s) associated with project: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Documentation Dataset ID File Name Dataset Name ---------- ---------------- ------------------------------------------- DSL2002033 ANMLTRAN.DSD Animal Transect Data 11) Publications resulting from project research: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) Comments (Include any comments that here that more full describe this project): ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) Project file history log: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project title - Animal Transects Project file name - ANMLTRAN.PRJ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- mm/dd/yyyy - Date of comment (month/day/year) Int - Initials of person making comment Changes/Updates - List any changes made to document KJL - Kevin J. La Fleur JPA - John P. Anderson JL - Jim Lenz KR - Ken Ramsey mm/dd/yyyy Int Changes/Updates ---------- --- -------------------------------------------------------- 04/18/1989 KJL Project documentation completed by investigator 01/26/1993 JPA Documentation updated, to include list of all files associated with project. 08/02/1996 KJL Converted project document file to new format. 06/13/2002 JL Added Project ID section. 01/16/2003 KR Changed format of Associated Datasets section. Added Dataset ID to Associated Datasets section. Moved Project ID to top of form. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF PROJECT FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------