Research

Ashe Juniper Management 

• Ecosystem Multifunctionality Assessment
  • Ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) is the simultaneous provisioning of ecosystem functions and services within a landscape. Understanding EMF is important to maintain sustainable ecosystem management. The Edwards Plateau Ecological Region presents a unique case study for investigating EMF due to the complex ecological system where ashe juniper plays a controversial, yet significant role in ecosystem functioning. Given increasing pressures, like urbanization and fragmentation, and different sentiments toward ashe juniper, it is essential to better understand EMF for long-term ecological sustainability for this fragile region. 
  • Plots will be established based on a combination of slope and canopy cover and include vegetation and soil sample collection. The goal is to have plots created for long-term monitoring and assessment of EMF for management considerations.
  • We recognize the influence public perceptions have on ashe juniper, and how this may influence EMF based on management practices. Photos of each plot site will be collected and used in a social component of this research by being included in a questionnaire curated to assess landscape preferences of participants (e.g., landowners, managers). These findings will allow us to identify if landscape preferences and management applications align to how participants would like the landscape to function.
• Plant-Soil Feedback
  • Plant-soil feedback are the species-specific changes made to the soil through the release of allelochemicals that affect the performance of other species. We will determine the presence of plant-soil feedback relationships of ashe juniper on Texas madrone and escarpment live oak. 
  • Acorns/berries and soil samples will be collected to be used in a fully crossed greenhouse experiment. Plant-soil feedback presence will be evaluated based on germination rate, shoot height, biomass (root and shoot), and physiological traits compared to the treatment.
  • Understanding the relationships ashe juniper may create with the soil, as well as any enduring legacy effects, is especially important for management considerations due to rapid reestablishment once removed, and the widespread desire to facilitate the establishment and growth of other native species.

Large Mammal Monitoring and Management

• Large mammals are an important resource for landowners in the Hill Country. In addition to white-tailed deer, the Hill Country has large populations of nonnative species, especially feral pigs, axis deer, elk, and aoudad, as well as domesticated species including goats, sheep, and cattle. 
• Understanding and managing these species, including their impacts, begins with good population monitoring and an understanding of habitat associations and species interactions. Investing in monitoring large mammal populations now will provide a basis to understand long-term trends in population abundance and distribution and the impacts of future efforts to manage native and exotic species and the landscape. 
• Our objectives for this study are to: 

1. Establish a broad-scale camera grid across the Hill Country, which will be used to assess long-term changes in large mammal population abundance and distribution.
2. Determine large mammal relative use of habitats associated with various landscape factors, such as elevation, slope, or juniper management.
3. Investigate the interactions of native and exotic species to assess the way in which they may be sharing the limited resources on the landscape.

• This project will be valuable for the long-term monitoring and conservation of wildlife species, as it will allow for the linking of large mammal community responses to environmental conditions and land management in the Hill Country. Camera-based studies can provide auxiliary benefits in understanding species that occupy a property. For example, cameras can produce data on the population status of less abundant species in the Hill Country, such as ringtail, javelina, black bears, and mountain lions.
• This broad scale survey will allow for the linking large mammal community responses to environmental conditions and land use legacies detailed by the Ashe Juniper Management Project. Based on results from this study, we can provide landowners with information they can use to manage white-tailed deer and nonnatives on their property.