Mass gain is an important fitness correlate for survival in highly seasonal species. While many physiological, genetic, life history, and environmental factors can influence mass gain, more recent work suggests the specific nature of an individual’s own social relationships also influences mass gain

We developed habitat selection models for Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus), a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We followed a management-centric modeling approach that sought to balance the need to evaluate the consistency of key habitat conditions and improvement

Description: Annual demography dataset for an alpine plant community in Colorado. This file updates previous years of data for this project posted to https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.33410. This version is provisional and will be updated shortly with additional years of data and

Aim: Ant communities are believed to be structured by competition, with dominant species competitively excluding subordinates (the dominance-impoverishment rule). However, a high number of seemingly similar species coexist, possibly due to interspecific trade-offs. Here, we examine the evidence for

Anthropogenic environmental change currently threatens to alter resource availability across the planet, likely driving responses by plant species. In the Colorado Rocky Mountains, climate change is expected to decrease soil moisture availability and increased nitrogen deposition is expected to incr

Research in stream ecology has become imperative to protect the ecosystem from natural and human induced disturbances. By indulging in the variation of substrate makeup, light intensity, and current velocity, we can evaluate the composition of living organisms as well as the nutrients around them. T

The carbon balance of a system is particularly sensitive to water availability because carbon availability drives both the mechanisms of photosynthesis and decomposition (Huxman et al. 2004 b, Ignace et al. 2007). The carbon balance of terrestrial plants is mainly a function of (i) carbon fixation t

Mutualisms are commonly dependent on the ecological context in which partners interact. In ant‐aphid interactions, the dietary status of ants has been hypothesized to be one factor that may mediate ant‐aphid interactions. This hypothesis was supported in one laboratory study with one ant species. We

Song repertoire size is the range of distinct syllables, phrases, and song types created by an individual or population. Variations within songs create complex repertoires, making them difficult to estimate. There are several methods to estimate repertoire size, however prior studies discovered that

Sex-biased herbivory towards male plants has been shown to be common in many dioecious species. Valeriana edulis is a perennial, dioecious dicot that is the plant host to an ant-aphid mutualism. We investigated the interaction between ants and aphids to determine if it differs based on the sex of a

Vigilance is an anti-predator behavior responsible for ensuring the survival of an individual. This behavior directly benefits the individual, as well as conspecifics by scanning for potential threats. The amount of time devoted to vigilance in yellow-bellied marmots varies based on many factors inc

At the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), revegetation is an important area of research because there are many areas of disturbed land that are more vulnerable to the spread of invasive species. In my project, I revisited a former student’s revegetation work in order to determine the long-

Sexually selected traits are often plastic and can thus provide information on infection status and parasite load. Mounting an immune response has been shown to require the diversion of energy and resources away from other life history functions. Previous studies have demonstrated that bird song may

Author: Bahman Hatami (Editor) Organization: InStream Colorado Date: April 2000

Colorado Environment 2000. 1989

Board of County Commissioners County of Gunnison, Colorado. July 24, 2000.

Steve Glazer, James Wechsler, Tom Myers, Sue Lowry, Jim McCarthy, David Czamanske, Dave Wegner, Richard Ingebretsen, Fred Cagle, Rob Smith. The Sierra Club Colorado River Taske Force. August 2000.