Pinyon Juniper  Ecosystem
By: Jeremy, Sasha, Connor, and Kelley 

Introduction

The Pinyon Juniper  ecosystem  is an ecosystem found across the Western United States such as Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. This ecosystem is made of low and dry shrublands, and tall trees. This ecosystem is dominated by Juniper and Pinyon trees, which are small, shrubby, and usually have rounded crowns. Let's look at the ecosystem in further depth.

Abiotic Characteristics
The abiotic characteristics of the Juniper Pinyon ecosystem are similar to that of a desert, with extremely low levels of precipitation and barren landscapes. Here’s some more information:
Average Temperatures: 

• 4 to 16 degrees Celsius/ 40 to 61 degrees Fahrenheit 

Average Precipitation Amounts: 

• 10 to about 15 inches of precipitation per year.  January- .37 in. of rain. June-  1.56 in. of rain.
  

Elevation Range: 

• 5000 to 7000 ft. above sea level.

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Consumers

A consumer is an organism that has to find or hunt for its own food. There are three types of consumers; carnivores, omnivores, and  herbivores.

Carnivore: An animal that feeds on meat or flesh.

Omnivore: An animal or person that feeds on plants or animals.

Herbivore: An animal that feeds on plants.

Carnivores:

Bobcat-

• Habitat: You can find Bobcats in foothills, mesas, canyons, and plateaus. A good shelter is made in brush or woodlands. 

• Adaptations: Bobcats’ fur changes color with the seasons for camouflage and its claws and teeth help the animal to hunt the other animals of this ecosystem.

• Diet: Rabbits and hares are Bobcats main food source. Other animals they eat are mice and birds.

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Mountain Lion/Cougar-

• Habitat: You can find cougars in foothills, canyons, and mesas. They prefer bushy/woodland areas over open spaced areas.
• Adaptations: Cougars’ paws and tail help them adapt to their surroundings because their paws help them jump great height and length and their tail helps them balance while jumping off edges of cliff-like terrain.
• Diet: They pounce on deer and usually eat one deer a week. They have been occasionally known to eat bighorn sheep.

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Omnivores:

Kit Fox-

• Habitat: Kit Foxes are scattered around the semi-desert shrub lands and they spend most days in their dens underground.
• Adaptations: Kit Foxes grayish fur is important for camouflage and they are nocturnal so they can hunt at night. Also, they have multiple dens, so if a predator sees them go in one den at night they can switch dens throughout the night.
  
• Diet: They mostly eat small rodents and rabbits, as well as berries and insects.

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Coyote-

• Habitat: You can find Coyotes in about every ecosystem in Colorado.

• Adaptations: Their fur gives them camouflage in the semi-desert shrub lands and their claws help them eat their prey. 

• Diet: Their diet consists of about everything such as deer, rabbits, birds, insects, and berries.

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Ring Tail Cat-

• Habitat: Ring Tail Cats live in mesas and canyon country and they normally live by water.

• Adaptations: Ring Tail Cats are nocturnal and they are great climbers in steep areas. They make a stinky odor to scare away any predators of the ecosystem.
• Diet: They eat mice, lizards, frogs, packrats, and also fruit.

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Herbivores:

Kangaroo Rat-

• Habitat: In arid deserts. They dig large dens near bushes for shelter.

• Adaptations: The Kangaroo Rat can live with only the supply of water found in the food it eats. They also have a cheek pouch where they can hold food for weeks. Its tail also helps to balance the animal when jumping.
• Diet: Kangaroo Rats mostly eat seeds, insects, leaves, and stems.

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Desert Bighorn Sheep-

• Habitat: Dry deserts and usually along cliffs.
  
• Adaptations: Bighorn Sheep have acute eyesight so they can see up to a mile away and their hooves are made for any terrain.
  
• Diet: A variety of plants including cacti and a lot of grasses.

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Black Tailed Jackrabbit-

• Habitat: The shrub lands of Southern and Western Colorado.
• Adaptations: The Jackrabbits are prey to many animals so its eyes are placed on the sides of the face so it can see predators coming from any direction. Also, its long ears keep the hare cool during the day and its legs help it run up to 35 mph to run away from predators.
• Diet: In the summer they eat herbs and leaves and in the fall and winter they eat bark and twigs.

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Human Impacts

The human impact, heavy grazing, from domestic livestock caused a loss of plant diversity, but also caused less fires in the grasslands throughout history. When the livestock eats all the grass it eats away different kinds of grasses leaving less plants types. When the grassy fuels decreased because the animals were eating it, it also decreased fire regime.
Also, land managers are trying to trade-off between fire hazard reduction and ecological goals in this ecosystem.

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Products

The woodlands of this ecosystem have many products such as fuel woods, fence posts, pinyon nuts, and Christmas trees. Utah Juniper and Colorado Pinyon Pine can be used for Christmas trees. Pinyon nuts also come from Colorado Pinyon Pine. 

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Threats

Cryptobiotic soil is an organism that lives in Juniper Pinyon ecosystems, and can take up to seven years to regenerate if stepped on by humans. Fires are one of the biggest threats because they are becoming more and more common in the Juniper Pinyon ecosystem. Many plants can not grow once they are burned from fires, but luckily many plants do survive through fires.

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Water Use

The water use of this ecosystem is expanding because Utah Juniper and Colorado Pinyon Pine trees are starting to be able to grow in lower elevations so they are taking over the grasslands leaving the grasslands dry. Utah Juniper and Pinyon Pine are starting to build canopies over all the grasses, so there are more trees and less grasses and shrubs. The trees, Utah Juniper especially, are soaking up all of the water and making less plant diversity.

Grasslands before Juniper Pinyon trees took over.

Grasslands after Juniper Pinyon trees took over.

Conclusion

The Pinyon Juniper is a biome teeming with animals, plants, and fantastic characteristics.

Producers:

Utah Juniper:
The Utah Juniper can range in size from a large shrub to a coniferous tree that is widespread across Colorado. This tree’s habitat is rocky areas and dry areas. The adaptations of this tree are it can tolerate growing in acid or alkaline soils so you can find it all over the state and like the Colorado Pinyon Pine their blade like leaves do not need much water to survive. It has dark blue frosted berries that contain small seeds which help it reproduce.

Dark, blue, frosted berries of Utah Juniper tree.

Colorado Pinyon Pine
The Colorado Pinyon Pine is a tree that grows up to 45 ft. tall. The trees habitat is dry open land in the Colorado Plateau. The adaptation of this tree is the leaves that are short and needle-like and have a much smaller surface than other leaves so they don’t need as much water. Colorado Pinyon Pines make up 4.8 million acres, and is 22% of all Colorado forests.

Big Galleta:
Big Galleta grass is a low growing grass found in clumps. This grass’s habitat is found across woodlands, shrublands, and desert areas. The adaptations of this plant that help it survive are it is long lived and can survive easily in a drought because it is very effective in pulling water out of the soil during dry periods.

Common Sagebrush:
The Common Sagebrush is a perennial shrub that grows in the 
Western U.S. This shrub’s habitat is dry plains and the dry sides of mountains. The adaptations of the Common Sagebrush are it can survive with little water and when the plant is living with little water it can look dead. When this happens sometimes the plant uproots and spreads its seeds for more sagebrush to grow.

Rice Grass:
Rice Grass is a low growing bunchgrass with very narrow, rolled leaf blades. It can be found in salt desert shrub communities and also grass prairies in the Juniper Pinyon ecosystem. The adaptations of this grass are it can live through droughts and it can live in alkaline soils.

Hedgehog Cactus:
Hedgehog Cactus is a genus of cacti. The habitat of this cactus is woodlands, deserts, and flats. The Hedgehog Cactus has adaptations such as the outside is surrounded by very sharp spikes and it has a water pouch so it can hold as much water as it can.

Birds

Birds in the Juniper Pinyon Ecosystem are in the perfect area to build nests or homes and stay away from predators. On steep cliffs predators can’t reach their nests and it is easy to take flight into an open area. Also, this ecosystem is a great place to live because birds can take flight over the shrub lands and find small animals to feast on. Some birds like to live underground, but there aren't that many.

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Burrowing Owl:

• Habitat -  Burrowing Owls live in the prairies. They use burrows that were built by other animals like Prairie Dogs.
• Adaptations - The brown feathers of the owl make them hard to spot on the ground. When predators are entering the birds burrow they make a loud hissing sound that scares some predators away. The male owls warn all birds.
• Diet - The owls main source of food is insects such as grasshoppers and beetles. Also, moles, rats, and birds.

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Pinyon Jay:

• Habitat - The Pinyon Jay can be found on dry mountains slopes and foothills. They can also be found in sagebrush.
• Adaptations - The great memory of this jay helps them survive the winter because when the birds stash their seeds they can retrieve them months after they hid them. They have a source of food throughout the year.
• Diet - This bird has a diet consisting of mainly pinyon pine seeds and pine cones. They store thousands of seeds in many places for the winter.

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Turkey Vulture:

• Habitat - Turkey Vultures have a wide range of habitats all over the world. They can be found looking for prey over grasslands.
• Adaptations - The Vulture’s bald head is an adaptation to minimize any infections or disease. Also, a great sense of smell helps the vulture find their carrion in the desert.
• Diet - They are carrion eaters. They like eating anything that is already dead such as roadkill.

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Peregrine Falcon: Predator

• Habitat - This falcon lives in the woodlands. They build their nests in high cliffs.
• Adaptations - The adaptations are they have sleek bodies which helps them fly faster and they have amazing vision to catch food. They can see the prey better than other birds while they are camouflaged.
• Diet - The Peregrine Falcon eats doves, pigeons, grouse, quails, shorebirds, and jays.

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Canyon Wren:

• Habitat - This wren is found on steep cliffs, canyons, and rock outcrops.
• Adaptations - The skeletal structure of the spinal column has helped the birds reach farther in rock crevices to reach more insects.
• Diet - The majority of this birds diet is made up of insects and spiders.

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Golden Eagle: Predator

• Habitat - They live in open spaced areas in grasslands.
• Adaptations - This eagle has very swift flying which helps them dive up to 150 mph to eat their food which they snatch with their very long talons.
• Diet - The Golden Eagle’s diet consists of mostly fish such as different kinds of trout.

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Video Links

Bonded Trees in Juniper Pinyon Ecosystem
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4thaLjnKcsIS25Zb0V6S1VOZGs&authuser=0

Utah Juniper Berries
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4thaLjnKcsISjZxeURSZnFPUHM&authuser=0

Juniper Pinyon Trees
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4thaLjnKcsIWC1iMXNjUVZmYnc/view?usp=sharing

View of Juniper Pinyon Ecosystem
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4thaLjnKcsIMGFOTlJMZTlwYUE/view?usp=sharing

Works Cited:

http://shelledy.mesa.k12.co.us/staff/computerlab/ColoradoLifeZones_Semidesert_Shrublands.htm
http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SpeciesProfiles.aspx
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org
http://www.nps.gov/
http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/carnivores
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/white_dere/adaptations.htm
http://www7.nau.edu/mpcer/direnet/publications/publications_b/files/Brockway_DG_Gatewood_RG_Paris_RB_Restoring_grassland_savannas.pdf
http://extension.usu.edu/
http://www.usu.edu/saf/PJWoodlandsPositionStatement.pdf
http://www.usu.edu/soilphysics/scott/soilwaterrepellency.pdf
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