Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ

Abstract

The Madrean Archipelago or Sky Islands region of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico is recognized for its unique biological diversity, natural beauty, and cultural heritage. This 2012 conference brought together scientists, managers, students, and other interested parties from the United States and Mexico to share their knowledge and passion about the region and to identify needs and creative solutions for existing and emerging problems. More than 300 people attended the conference including a large and energetic contingent from northern Mexico. The conference provided a forum to update the state-of-knowledge that has evolved since the first conference in 1994 and the second conference in 2004. It also provided a setting for the formation of new friendships and partnerships. These proceedings contain 80 of the 190 oral and poster presentations and all abstracts from the plenary sessions and the concurrent sessions. Abstracts in Spanish are included. Topics include climate change in the Sky Island Region, southwestern cienegas, the Northern Jaguar Reserve, amphibian conservation, biodiversity of plants and animals, fire effects, grasslands, and human impacts, and tools. The conference hosted a symposium about Santa Cruz River Watershed Conservation. A lively open forum at the end of the conference generated a list of future scientific and management needs for the Madrean Archipelago and a commitment to increase international cooperation. Mexican participants graciously offered to host the next conference, Speakers stressed the importance for all interested parties to collaborate - to work side-by-side and constantly inform one another about relevant research, timely events, and cross-pollination opportunities throughout the region.

Titles contained within Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ

• Conference summary: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III: Closing remarks and notes from the concluding session
• National wildlife refuge management on the United States/Mexico border
• Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico
• Conservation efforts and possibilities for increased collaboration in the Santa Cruz River watershed
• A conceptual model of plant responses to climate with implications for monitoring ecosystem change
• Temporal patterns in species flowering in Sky Islands of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion
• Are Madrean ecosystems approaching tipping points? Anticipating interactions of landscape disturbance and climate change
• Preliminary assessment of changes in a lizard assemblage at an ecotone in southeastern Arizona
• It's lonely at the top: Biodiversity at risk to loss from climate change
• Responding to climate change impacts in the Sky Island Region: From planning to action
• Flora and vegetation of the Saint David and Lewis Springs Cienegas, Cochise County, Arizona
• Paleoenvironmental framework for understanding the development, stability, and state-changes of cienegas in the American deserts
• When will female jaguars cross the border? Socio-demographics of the northern jaguar
• Bird ecology and conservation on the Northern Jaguar Reserve: Recent lessons
• Buying land for conservation purposes in Sonora, Mexico
• A comparison of the herpetofaunas of Ranchos Los Fresnos and El Aribabi in northern Sonora, Mexico
• Comparison of preliminary herpetofaunas of the Sierras la Madera (Oposura) and Bacadehuachi with the mainland Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonora, Mexico
• Distribution of riparian vegetation in relation to streamflow in Pima County, Arizona
• Observations on the seasonal distribution of native fish in a 10-kilometer reach of San Bernardino Creek, Sonora, Mexico
• Biodiversity and conservation of the Cienega de Saracachi area, Sonora, Mexico
• Preliminary assessment of biogeographic affinities of selected insect taxa of the state of Sonora, Mexico
• Preliminary survey of bee (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) richness in the northwestern Chihuahuan Desert
• Introduction to the Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project (ASAP): Systematics, biogeography, ecology, and population genetics of arthropods of the Madrean Sky Islands
• Preliminary assessment of the moth (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) fauna of Rincon de Guadalupe, Sierra de Bacadehuachi, Sonora, Mexico
• Sand dune of Ruby, Arizona, an anthropogenically created biodiversity hotspot for wasps and their velvet ant parasitoids
• Bird list of San Bernardino Ranch in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico
• Preliminary assessment of species richness and avian community dynamics in the Madrean Sky Islands, Arizona
• Biodiversity effects on ecosystem function due to land use: The case of buffel savannas in the Sky Islands Seas in the central region of Sonora
• Biogeography and diversity of pines in the Madrean Archipelago
• Ecosystems and diversity of the Sierra Madre Occidental
• Wide ranges of functional traits in the flora from the central region of Sonora: A diversity to be explored
• Cytogeography of Larrea tridentata at the Chihuahuan-Sonoran Desert ecotone
• Chihuahuan desert flora of La Calera, Municipio de Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico
• Flora of Chihuahuan desertscrub on limestone in northeastern Sonora, Mexico
• Preliminary flora of the Sierra Bacadehuachi, Sonora, Mexico
• Comparison of the tropical floras of the Sierra la Madera and the Sierra Madre Occidental, Sonora, Mexico
• Biogeographic perspective of speciation among desert tortoises in the genus Gopherus: A preliminary evaluation
• Richness of mammals on the San Bernardino Ranch in the municipality of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico
• Preliminary list of flying mammals in the Ajos-Bavispe National Forest Reserve and Wildlife Refuge, Sonora
• Decade of wildlife tracking in the Sky Islands
• Black bear population and connectivity in the Sky Islands of Mexico and the United States
• Inventory of terrestrial mammals in the Rincon Mountains using camera traps
• Habitat type and Permanence determine local aquatic invertebrate community structure in the Madrean Sky Islands
• Gila topminnow interactions with western mosquitofish: An update
• Native aquatic vertebrates: Conservation and management in the Rio Sonoyta Basin, Sonora, Mexico
• Documenting the biodiversity of the Madrean Archipelago: An analysis of a virtual flora and fauna
• Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production
• Review of black-tailed prairie dog reintroduction strategies and site selection: Arizona reintroduction
• Trajectory and rate of desert vegetation response following cattle removal
• Soil erosion and deposition before and after fire in oak savannas
• Hillslope treatment effectiveness monitoring on Horseshoe 2 and Monument Fires
• Ecology and management of oak woodlands and savannas in the southwestern Borderlands Region
• Effects of prescribed fires and a wildfire on biological resources of oak savannas in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico
• Impacts of wildfire on wildlife in Arizona: A synthesis
• Burned saguaro: Will they live or die?
• Post-wildfire erosion in the Chiricahua Mountains
• Mapping and assessing the environmental impacts of border tactical infrastructure in the Sky Island Region
• Using remote sensing to monitor post-fire watershed recovery as a tool for management
• Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program
• Potential for extending major land resource areas into northern Mexico
• Into the third dimension: Benefits of incorporating LiDAR data in wildlife habitat models
• Sustaining the grassland sea: Regional perspectives on identifying, protecting and restoring the Sky Island region's most intact grassland valley landscapes
• Sacaton riparian grasslands of the Sky Islands: Mapping distribution and ecological condition using state-and-transition models in Upper Cienega Creek Watershed
• Long distance commutes by lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) to visit residential hummingbird feeders
• Effects of roads on wildlife in Arizona: How far have we traveled?
• Wildlife survey and monitoring in the Sky Island Region with an emphasis on neotropical felids
• Analysis of the seasonal activity rate of sympatric carnivores and their prey in Saguaro National Park
• Wildlife surveys and monitoring with the Use of remote camera traps in the Greater Oak Flat Watershed near Superior, Arizona
• Medium and large mammals in the Sierra La Madera, Sonora, Mexico
• Herpetofauna at the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch
• Late quaternary brown bear (Ursidae: Ursus cf. arctos) from a cave in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona
• FireScape: A program for whole-mountain fire management in the Sky Island Region
• Floristic analysis of heterogeneous landscape patches in a biological corridor in the El Rodeo-Basora Area near Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico
• Association between nurse plants and saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) in the western Sonora
• Vegetation monitoring on semi-arid grasslands unglazed by domestic livestock
• Mountain pine beetle in southwestern white pine in the Pinaleno Mountains
• Population status of prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in the San Pedro River Basin, Sonora
• Babocomari River Riparian Protection Project
• Important bird areas of the Madrean Archipelago: A conservation strategy for avian communities
• Preliminary flora of Ojo de Agua Tonibabi, Sierra La Madera, Sonora, Mexico
• Examining wildlife responses to phenology and wildfire using a landscape-scale camera trap network
• Mapping landscape phenology preference of yellow-billed cuckoo with AVHRR data
• Mapping ecological systems in southeastern Arizona
• Vascular plants diversity of El Aribabi Conservation Ranch: A private natural protected area in northern Sonora, Mexico

Citation

Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C., comps. 2013. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 593 p.