Juniper Trees Research Articles

Фитоценозы с Juniperus foetidissima Willd. на территории Парадаша в Нахичеванской автономной республике

The article presents the role and phytocenological features of the Foetid Juniper (Juniperus foetidissima Willd.) species in the sparse juniper forest of Paradash Massif in the Julfa District. According to the used literature and our researches, plants with bare seeds in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic are represented by 2 Divisions, 2 Classes, 3 Orders, 3 Families, 7 Genera and 13 Species, 7 of which are related to the cultural flora. According to research in sparse juniper forests in the Paradash Massif, there were not found Species belongin to Pinaceae Adans. Family, but 2 Species of Juniperus L. Genera of Cupressaceae S. F. Gray Family, and only one species named Ephedra procera Fisch. et C. A. Mey. Belonging to the Ephedraceae Dumort family was determined. The dominant Species of the tree tier is Juniperus foetidissima Willd., and the subdominant Species is Pyrus salicifolia Pall. — whenever Juniperus polycarpos C. Koch, together with the willow-leafed pear are multi-fruited Species of Juniper. Counting of the height indicators according to the steps and determination of the trunk diameter of the Juniper tree on the territory of Paradash were given in the counting tables. All formations and associations of phytocenoses in a rocky biotope were discovered and presented.

On Half-Built Assemblages: Waiting for a Data Center in Prineville, Oregon

In 2010 the mega-corporation Facebook finalized an agreement to build a massive data center in Prineville, a small town in central Oregon previously known for logging, cattle ranching, and as the headquarters of the Les Schwab tire company. This was a largely unanticipated event that local leaders nonetheless prepared for several decades before when they designated a rural economic zone on the outskirts of town. However, the enterprise zone sat mostly unused, an empty and dusty piece of high desert land dotted with sagebrush and juniper trees. I describe the preparatory efforts that laid the groundwork for the data center as effecting a “half-built assemblage.” Through such anticipatory reconfigurations, local leaders recognized the limits of regional government to overcome the challenges of their peripherality. In the controversy surrounding such data center deals, critics have often cast rural leaders as naive or as pandering to voters. However, I argue that the alliance with Facebook was one of the few courses of action available to local leaders that had any chance of realizing regional economic development goals. In seeking to understand the data center deal from a local perspective, I contribute an alternative notion of temporality to materialist theorizing by looking across much longer durations of time in relation to the political economy, the natural world, and other elements as a way to temper exaggerations of anthropocentric agency and the narrow attribution of blame.

Species-specific drought resilience in juniper and fir forests in the central Himalayas

Abstract With increased frequency and intensity of drought occurrence in the changing climate, the drought resilience of forest trees is of widespread interest. Particularly, it is not clear as to how the resilience differs between tree species and whether or not such resilience changes over time. Understanding tree resilience to drought requires observations not only from recent events but also from the historical past, information of which is usually hardly available. Here we defined historical drought based on isotope data and compared drought resilience in Juniperus tibetica and Abies spectabilis forest in the central Himalayas in five extreme droughts during the past two centuries. We found that juniper trees had a stronger resistance than fir trees in the three extreme droughts in the nineteenth century but this pattern reversed in the two drought events in the twentieth century. The length of response time to droughts and recovery time to pre-drought state were shorter in juniper trees than in fir trees. The proportion of declining trees showed a decreasing trend in fir trees but not in juniper trees. Our results indicate that the species-specific resilience might be related to the anisohydric (junipers) and isohydric (firs) strategies of stomatal regulation in response to droughts plants. The differences in species-specific drought resilience should be taken into account when developing forest management policies against the influence of extreme droughts in future.

Water Use and Soil Moisture Relationships on Western Juniper Trees at Different Growth Stages

An enhanced understanding of plant water uptake is critical for making better-informed management decisions involving vegetative manipulation practices aimed to improve site productivity. This is particularly true in arid and semiarid locations where water is a scarce, yet precious commodity. In this project, we evaluated the interannual and seasonal variability of soil moisture and transpiration in sapling, juvenile, and mature western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) trees in a semiarid rangeland ecosystem of central Oregon, USA. Transpiration levels were greatest in mature juniper trees in an untreated juniper watershed (Jensen WS), while the lowest transpiration levels were observed in juniper saplings in a treated watershed (Mays WS) where most mature juniper trees were removed in 2005. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in leaf water potential levels observed between predawn and midday readings for all juniper growth stages indicated water is lost over the course of the day. Results showed seasonal precipitation was highly variable over the course of the study (2017 through 2019) and this was reflected in soil water available for tree uptake. This resulted in considerable intra- and inter-annual variation in transpiration. In years with greater winter precipitation amounts (2017 and 2019), juniper transpiration rates were highest during the summer, followed by spring, autumn, and winter. On average, transpiration rates during the summer in the wettest (329 mm) year 2017 were 115 and 2.76 L day−1 for mature and sapling trees, respectively. No data were collected for juvenile trees in 2017. In the drier (245 mm) year 2018, higher transpiration rates were observed in the spring. On average, spring transpiration rates were 72.7, 1.61, and 1.00 L day−1 for mature, juvenile, and sapling trees, respectively. Study results highlight the sensitivity of western juniper woodlands to variations in seasonal precipitation and soil moisture availability.

The juniper tree. A conversation with Michael B. Schiffer and Randall H. McGuire

AbstractWhat are the circumstances through which we become archaeologists? In April 2018, Rui Gomes Coelho met with his former adviser, Randall H. McGuire, and his adviser’s adviser, Michael B. Schiffer, for a conversation about the reasons why they became interested in archaeology, about mentorship and about how they connect their experiences to broader social questions. This conversation is an affective reflection that crosses the emergence of behavioural archaeology, Marxist archaeology, the postprocessual turn and the context that shaped the origins of the archaeology of the recent past.

Allometric Relationships for Predicting Aboveground Biomass and Sapwood Area of Oneseed Juniper (Juniperus monosperma) Trees.

Across the semiarid ecosystems of the southwestern USA, there has been widespread encroachment of woody shrubs and trees including Juniperus species into former grasslands. Quantifying vegetation biomass in such ecosystems is important because semiarid ecosystems are thought to play an important role in the global land carbon (C) sink, and changes in plant biomass also have implications for primary consumers and potential bioenergy feedstock. Oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) is common in desert grasslands and pinyon–juniper rangelands across the intermountain region of southwestern North America; however, there is limited information about the aboveground biomass (AGB) and sapwood area (SWA) for this species, causing uncertainties in estimates of C stock and transpiration fluxes. In this study, we report on canopy area (CA), stem diameter, maximum height, and biomass measurements from J. monosperma trees sampled from central New Mexico. Dry biomass ranged between 0.4 kg and 625 kg, and cross-sectional SWA was measured on n = 200 stems using image analysis. We found a strong linear relationship between CA and AGB (r2 = 0.96), with a similar slope to that observed in other juniper species, suggesting that this readily measured attribute is well suited for upscaling studies. There was a 9% bias between different approaches to measuring CA, indicating care should be taken to account for these differences to avoid systematic biases. We found equivalent stem diameter (ESD) was a strong predictor of biomass, but that existing allometric models underpredicted biomass in larger trees. We found SWA could be predicted from individual stem diameter with a power relationship, and that tree-level SWA should be estimated by summing the SWA predictions from individual stems rather than ESD. Our improved allometric models for J. monosperma support more accurate and robust measurements of C storage and transpiration fluxes in Juniperus-dominated ecosystems.

Contrasting Centennial‐Scale Climate Variability in High Mountain Asia Revealed by a Tree‐Ring Oxygen Isotope Record From Lahaul‐Spiti

AbstractGlacier response analyses in High Mountain Asia have revealed that the glaciers from the Karakoram region were in balance or thickening while most from the other regions were thinning, the “Karakoram anomaly.” It is, however, not clear whether this contrasting glacier response in High Mountain Asia is the result of regionally varying climate trends. Here, we give evidence for regionally varying climate trends by presenting a contrasting centennial‐scale variations of oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of juniper trees from the Indian Himalayan region (present study) and Karakoram. The persistence of contrasting δ18O trends in the two regions over the past millennium indicates that regionally contrasting climate trends are a natural phenomenon. Regionally distinct hydroclimatic trends revealed here can explain the anomalous glacier mass balance trends in the Karakoram region and hence the “Karakoram anomaly.”

Ecosystem carbon in relation to woody plant encroachment and control: Juniper systems in Oregon, USA

The encroachment of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) trees represents a substantial problem in Oregon rangelands because of the displacement of understory vegetation of importance to wildlife and livestock. Therefore, the control of this species is a common ecological restoration practice. However, western juniper control may also affect the carbon sequestration capacity for an area, although this effect is not well understood. Our study site was a paired watershed in central Oregon where western juniper trees were cut in one watershed (treated, 116 ha) and were left intact in another (untreated, 96 ha). Thirteen years after control, we quantified aboveground carbon stocks for western juniper trees, shrubs, grasses, and litter in both the treated and untreated watersheds. We also quantified belowground carbon stocks (roots and soil) in both watersheds at two soil depths (0−25 cm and 25−50 cm). Aboveground carbon stocks were 5.8 times greater in the untreated than in the treated watershed. On the other hand, root carbon stocks were 2.6 times greater in the treated than in the untreated watershed. Soil carbon stocks at both 0−25 cm and 25−50 cm depth were not affected by juniper control. Overall, total ecosystem carbon stocks (average 137.6 Mg C ha−1) were not different between watersheds. Most carbon resided belowground (soil 0−50 cm and roots); 84% and 97% of the total ecosystem carbon, respectively, was found in the untreated and treated watershed. Juniper control represents benefits such as habitat restoration for native wildlife, increased forage for livestock, and restoration of hydrological functions. Our study provides basis to suggest that the benefits of juniper control can be attained without substantially affecting the potential for ecosystem carbon sequestration.

Effectiveness of prescribed fire to re-establish sagebrush steppe vegetation and ecohydrologic function on woodland-encroached sagebrush rangelands, Great Basin, USA: Part II: Runoff and sediment transport at the patch scale

Woody species encroachment into herbaceous and shrub-dominated vegetations is a concern in many rangeland ecosystems of the world. Arrival of woody species into affected rangelands leads to changes in the spatial structure of vegetation and alterations of biophysical processes. In the western USA, encroachment of pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) tree species into sagebrush steppes poses a threat to the proper ecohydrological functioning of these ecosystems. Prescribed fire has been proposed and used as one rangeland improvement practice to restore sagebrush steppe from pinyon-juniper encroachment. Short-term effects of burning on the ecohydrologic response of these systems have been well documented and often include a period of increased hydrologic and erosion vulnerability immediately after burning. Long-term ecohydrologic response of sagebrush steppe ecosystems to fire is poorly understood due to lack of cross-scale studies on treated sites. The aim of this study is to evaluate long-term vegetation, hydrologic, and erosion responses at two pinyon-juniper-encroached sagebrush sites 9 years after prescribed fire was applied as a restoration treatment. Thirty-six rainfall simulation experiments on 6 m × 2 m plots were conducted for 45 min under two conditions: a dry run (70 mm h−1; dry antecedent soils) and a wet run (111 mm h−1; wet antecedent soils). Runoff and erosion responses were compared between burned and unburned plots. Overall, increases in herbaceous cover in the shrub-interspace areas (intercanopy area between trees) at both sites 9 years post-burn resulted in runoff- and erosion-reduction benefits, especially under the wet runs. While the initially more degraded site characterized by 80% bare ground pre-burn, registered a higher overall increase (40% increase) in canopy cover, greater post-fire reductions in runoff and erosion were observed at the less degraded site (57% bare ground pre-burn). Runoff and erosion for the wet runs decreased respectively by 6.5-fold and 76-fold at the latter site on the burned plots relative to control plots, whereas these decreases were more muted at the more degraded site (2.5 and 3-fold respectively). Significant fragmentation of flow paths observed at the more-degraded site 9 years post-fire, suggests a decreased hydrologic connectivity as a mechanism of runoff and erosion reduction during post-fire recovery.

The Vulnerability of Qilian Juniper to Extreme Drought Events.

Identifying which trees are more vulnerable to extreme climatic events is a challenging problem in our understanding of forest and even ecosystem dynamics under climate change scenarios. As one of the most widely distributed tree species across the arid and semi-arid northeastern Tibetan Plateau, Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.), is the main component of the local forest ecosystem, providing critical insurance for the ecological security of the surrounding areas. However, this species’s ability to cope with climate extremes (especially drought) has not been adequately assessed. Here, we apply a dendroecological approach that considers indices of resistance and resilience to quantify the vulnerability of Qilian junipers to the extreme drought events of 1957, 1966, 1979, and 1995. A total of 532 Qilian juniper trees from different age stages (100–1,100 years) and altitudes [3,500–4,000 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] were studied to assess their response characteristics during these four drought extremes. We conclude that drought extremes have a significant negative impact on the growth of Qilian juniper. The oldest Qilian junipers at the lower altitudes constituted the most vulnerable populations across the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and were characterized by the lowest resistance values, the narrowest annual rings, and the highest proportion of missing rings during the four drought years. Tree resilience after droughts was strongly related to the intensity of the drought event and did not change with tree age or elevation. A threshold of tree tolerance to drought may exist, with the more vulnerable tree individuals (e.g., the oldest Qilian junipers from lower altitudes) being exposed to the highest mortality risk when drought intensity exceeds the threshold value. Such a threshold needs further consideration, through the study of trees that have died (or are about to die) due to extreme droughts.

Stand Dynamics of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands After Hazardous Fuels Reduction Treatments in Arizona

Pinyon-juniper ecosystems occur extensively across western North America, and at the landscape scale, variation in structure and composition is influenced by topographic position, soils, disturbance history, and local climate. The persistent pinyon-juniper woodland is a common structural form, and though they are known to be infrequent-fire systems, there is increasing interest in implementation of hazardous fuels reduction treatments in woodlands, especially in the wildland-urban interface. Few studies have quantified stand dynamics following fuels reduction treatments in persistent woodlands or compared treatment outcomes to conditions that develop under natural disturbance and successional processes. In 2004, we established a randomized, replicated study in woodlands of northern Arizona, and monitored stand dynamics and understory responses to determine how stand-level changes differed between common fuels reduction approaches. We compared the resulting structure with a conceptual state-and-transition model. Results showed that, over the 11 yr after treatment, juniper tree densities decreased by 8.4% and 0.9% but increased by 14.0% and 27.3% in Control, Burn, Thin, and Thin + Burn treatments, respectively. Pinyon tree densities decreased by 1.1% and 3.3%, increased by 12.2%, and decreased 7.9% in Control, Burn, Thin, and Thin + Burn treatments, respectively. All treatments showed fuel load reductions throughout the 11-yr study period and minimal rebound of tree recruitment toward pretreatment conditions. Prescribed fire alone (Burn) maintained persistent woodland conditions. Thinning treatments substantially reduced small tree densities and, with the addition of prescribed fire, produced losses of large trees. Thinning with prescribed fire (Thin + Burn) tended to produce conditions qualitatively unlike those described by our state-and-transition model. Evaluation of these commonly used fuels treatments against our state-and-transition model suggested that concerns regarding loss of ecological integrity may be warranted.

Warm-season temperature reconstruction from high-elevation juniper tree rings over the past millennium in the Pamir region

Despite the great interest in the study of climate change in Central Asia, there are still research gaps; the spatial distribution of the natural proxy data is uneven, and our knowledge of past climate variability is incomplete. Recently many investigations have focused mainly on the region of the Tibetan Plateau and Tian Shan Mountains. Dendroclimatological field research in the western and central parts of the Pamir-Alay Mountains was conducted in the summer of 2015, within glacial cirques at elevations above 3000 m. On the basis of 49 juniper samples with northern exposures, warm season (May–September) Tmin values were reconstructed from 1301 to 2015 a.d. The reconstruction explains 53.6% of the actual temperature variance during the period 1941–1990. On the basis of the newly-developed paleoclimatological record, the time and duration of the MWP, TP, and LIA was established for the Pamir region. Close agreement between other temperature-related proxy records suggest that the reconstruction is highly reliable and captures the regional cold/warm periods of Central Asia. Therefore, the results of this study can contribute to understanding historical temperature changes in the Pamir region and its surroundings.

Old School and High Tech: A Comparison of Methods to Quantify Ashe Juniper Biomass as Fuel or Forage

• Ashe juniper invasion is a widespread issue on Texas and Oklahoma rangelands. Increased densities of Ashe juniper trees increase the risk of wildfire and decrease herbaceous forage production. • Browsing animals, such as goats, are one tool that can be used to effectively reduce juniper fuel. • In order to estimate the available biomass, allometric measurements were compared against three-dimensional Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans of whole juniper plants. • Accurate measurements of standing juniper browse and fuel load can be vital information for decision support of grazing management and wildland fire mitigation, especially in the ever-growing wildland-urban interface.

Evaluation of Different Pooling Methods to Establish a Multi-Century δ18O Chronology for Paleoclimate Reconstruction

To develop multi-century stable isotope chronologies from tree rings, pooling techniques are applied to reduce laboratory costs and time. However, pooling of wood samples from different trees may have adverse effects on the signal amplitude in the final isotope chronology. We tested different pooling approaches to identify the method that is most cost-efficient, without compromising the ability of the final chronology to reflect long-term climate variability as well as climatic extreme years. As test material, we used δ18O data from juniper trees (Juniperus polycarpus) from Northern Iran. We compared inter-tree and shifted 5-year blocks serial pooling of stable isotope series from 5 individual trees and addition of one single series to a shifted serial pooled chronology. The inter-tree pooled chronology showed the strongest climate sensitivity and most synchronous δ18O variations with the individual tree ring analyses, while the shifted block chronologies showed a marked decline in high-frequency signals and no correlations with climate variables of the growth year. Combinations of block-pooled and single isotope series compensated the high-frequency decline but added tree-individual climatic signals. Therefore, we recommend pooling calendar synchronous tree rings from individual trees as a viable alternative to individual-tree isotope measurements for robust paleoclimate reconstructions.

“We’ll Cook Him Up in a Stew”: Stepmothers and Primogeniture in the Brothers Grimm’s The Juniper Tree

What larger social concern could the continued popularity of the nineteenth-century cannibal stepmother narrative in twenty-first century crime and news reporting be indicating? In this paper, I compare a fictional episode of cannibalism in the non-canonical Brothers Grimms’ tale, “The Juniper Tree,” with the true story of the 2010 murder and subsequent dismemberment of Zahra Baker in Hickory, North Carolina to consider the larger cultural implications of cannibalistic stepmothers. In doing so I argue that, despite the half-hearted attempt by mainstream animation studios to try to create semi-Feminist adaptations of the canonical fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault, narratives similar to “The Juniper Tree” in fact reinforce a pro-male model of inheritance at the sacrifice of both wives and their girl children. These adaptations also communicate modern social anxieties surrounding blended families, especially regarding heteronormative visions of childhood, savior narratives around adoption, and easy answers about inheritance. Faculty Sponsor: Elizabeth E. Tavares

The oldest trees in China and where to find them

Extremely old trees are valued and revered by residents in many countries. Yet information about the ages and locations of the oldest living trees is rarely available, especially at the national level. We compiled a series of dendrochronological datasets of the age and location of very old trees (≥1000 years old) across China, and found that there are at least 98 ancient living trees exceeding 1000 years of age in the country. The oldest living individual we identified was a Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii) tree that, as of 2009, was determined to be 2230 years old. The oldest trees occurred most frequently in remote, high‐elevation areas.

Identification and characterization of dwarf mistletoe responding genes in Ziarat juniper tree (Juniperus excelsa M.Bieb) through suppression subtractive hybridization and deep sequencing

A total of 1279 dwarf mistletoe responding genes, for the first time, were identified and characterized in the Ziarat juniper tree. These are involved in various significant biological processes. Ziarat juniper tree (Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb) is an evergreen and dominant species of Balochistan juniper forest. It provides many benefits to regional ecosystems and surrounding populations. Unfortunately, the Ziarat juniper forest is in an endangered condition because of the large numbers of biotic and abiotic stresses including dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium oxycedri), an obligate parasite with an endophytic root system. The dwarf mistletoe responding genes showing differential expression might be a good source to reveal potential candidate-resistant genes in the juniper tree. The current research aims to identify and characterize dwarf mistletoe responding genes in Ziarat juniper tree (J. excelsa). For this purpose, the dwarf mistletoe infested and non-infested shoots were subjected to suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) for construction of forward (F-SSH) and reversed (R-SSH) libraries followed by deep sequencing as well as bioinformatics analysis. A total of 1279 dwarf mistletoe responding genes were identified with 985 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from dwarf mistletoe infested and 294 DEGs from dwarf mistletoe non-infested shoots of juniper tree. Some of the significant DEGs are heat shock proteins, galactinol synthase, metallothionein-related genes, leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases, zinc finger proteins, MYB transcription factors, serine/ threonine kinase and GATA transcription factor. Randomly selected 14 genes are subjected and validated through RT-qPCR. All the identified responding genes are further functionally characterized using gene ontology (GO). The responding genes are observed to be involved in various significant functions such as, stress, metabolism, transcription factor, signaling pathway and structural proteins. These results will be useful in preparing the juniper trees against dwarf mistletoe and other stresses.

Centennial-scale process activity in a complex landslide body in the Qilian Mountains, northeast Tibetan Plateau, China

Mass movements in China typically encompass landslides, rockfalls, and debris flows, and these processes affect almost 70% of all mountain areas of China. An improved understanding of geomorphic process dynamics and their drivers and process histories are important prerequisites for a proper assessment and a sustainable management of mountain hazards. Tree rings have on varied occasions proven to be a reliable tool for the acquisition of data on past mountain hazards. Here we present the first reconstruction of past landslide activity on a slope in the Qilian Mountains, northeast Tibetan Plateau, China. To this end, a total of 543 Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) samples were selected from 239 trees growing on or next to a complex landslide body, with the aim to reconstruct past landslide histories at the site. The dataset of disturbed trees was complemented with 174 increment cores from 84 reference Qilian juniper trees growing on three adjacent, yet undisturbed sites. Based on the dating of the samples and the interpretation of growth disturbances (GD) in the tree-ring series of affected trees, we provide the first reconstruction of past landslides as retrieved from a dendrogeomorphic record covering more than a millennium (956–2011 CE). Results show that the first detectable GD occurred as early as in 1042 CE, followed by seven major landslide reccurrences in 1703, 1816, 1848, 1863, 1913, 1970, and 1982. Comparison between our landslide record and a dendroclimatic precipitation reconstruction points to the crucial role of major, longer-term wet precipitation anomalies on landslide occurrence.

Comparison of Landsat and Land-Based Phenology Camera Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for Dominant Plant Communities in the Great Basin.

Phenology of plants is important for ecological interactions. The timing and development of green leaves, plant maturity, and senescence affects biophysical interactions of plants with the environment. In this study we explored the agreement between land-based camera and satellite-based phenology metrics to quantify plant phenology and phenophases dates in five plant community types characteristic of the semi-arid cold desert region of the Great Basin. Three years of data were analyzed. We calculated the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for both land-based cameras (i.e., phenocams) and Landsat imagery. NDVI from camera images was calculated by taking a standard RGB (red, green, and blue) image and then a near infrared (NIR) plus RGB image. Phenocam NDVI was calculated by extracting the red digital number (DN) and the NIR DN from images taken a few seconds apart. Landsat has a spatial resolution of 30 m2, while phenocam spatial resolution can be analyzed at the single pixel level at the scale of cm2 or area averaged regions can be analyzed with scales up to 1 km2. For this study, phenocam regions of interest were used that approximated the scale of at least one Landsat pixel. In the tall-statured pinyon and juniper woodland sites, there was a lack of agreement in NDVI between phenocam and Landsat NDVI, even after using National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery to account for fractional coverage of pinyon and juniper versus interspace in the phenocam data. Landsat NDVI appeared to be dominated by the signal from the interspace and was insensitive to subtle changes in the pinyon and juniper tree canopy. However, for short-statured sagebrush shrub and meadow communities, there was good agreement between the phenocam and Landsat NDVI as reflected in high Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r > 0.75). Due to greater temporal resolution of the phenocams with images taken daily, versus the 16-day return interval of Landsat, phenocam data provided more utility in determining important phenophase dates: start of season, peak of season, and end of season. More specific species-level information can be obtained with the high temporal resolution of phenocams, but only for a limited number of sites, while Landsat can provide the multi-decadal history and spatial coverage that is unmatched by other platforms. The agreement between Landsat and phenocam NDVI for short-statured plant communities of the Great Basin, shows promise for monitoring landscape and regional-level plant phenology across large areas and time periods, with phenocams providing a more comprehensive understanding of plant phenology at finer spatial scales, and Landsat extending the historical record of observations.

Insects and mites feeding on berries of Juniperus foetidissima Willd. on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus

Endemic forests with Juniperus spp. in the Mediterranean are listed as a priority habitat in the EU Habitats Directive, with the stinking juniper tree (Juniperus foetidissima Willd.) a key constituent. Within the EU, the island of Cyprus represents the southernmost range of distribution of J. foetidissima with clumps of the tree located mostly on the rocky and steep slopes of the Troodos National Forest Park (NFP) between 1.500–1.950 m above sea level. The reproductive potential of J. foetidissima may be at risk, partly because of berry attacks by arthropods. To identify the arthropod species that infest J. foetidissima berries we sampled trees biweekly for one year at three elevations (1.950 m, 1.800 m, and 1.650 m). We identified four microlepidoptera species attacking berries: Pammene mariana (Zerny), P. juniperana (Milliere), P. blockiana (Herrich-Schaffer) (Lepidoptera: Torticidae) and Argyresthia aurulentella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae). Eriophyid mites were also recorded to feed on berries. All insect species are recorded for the first time in Cyprus. Infestation during the maturation period of berries collected by cutting varied from an average of 16% at the medium elevation (1.800 m) to 11% at the low elevation (1.650 m). Infestation of berries collected by beating remained above 30% during the berry maturation period.