Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Desert Southwest CESU

archived

The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research investigating the establishment, life history, and competitive characteristics of several species of the non-native annual Salsola. On the southeast Colorado Plateau (Navajo Nation, Petrified Forest National Park and associated areas), plants in this genus are commonly associated with the extensive dune fields occurring there. Researchers at the USGS SBSC and the Flagstaff Science Center are studying the contribution of vegetation toward dune stability in this area. The role of Salsola in promoting increased sand transport through competition and replacement of native vegetation is unknown. The research team wishes to acquire more information on the seed germination, establishment and growth rates, and reproductive phenology of Salsola within controlled environments. Primary to that is developing propagation and establishment protocols for growing Salsola in controlled environments. The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center has identified this information as a key science need in support of the field studies and is seeking applicants for a cooperative research project to conduct controlled environment studies and assist with a literature review on these topics.

High