With his help, we extended the developed portion of the Al Allanson Trail one mile further and repaired certain hairy sections of the Sibyl Allanson Trail. We purchased a 100-gallon gas tank to transport gas to the reserve. This will reduce the amount of time we spend purchasing gasoline and will decrease the frequency of spilling while trying to fill the trucks from 5-gallon containers. A common flicker continued to peck away at our entrance sign until we brought it in for repairs. A sheet a plexiglass and a plastic owl has stopped flicker vandalism.
Nematodes are the most abundant and species rich soil metazoan.
Most are microscopic, feed on soil bacteria, and play a critical role in nutrient cycling. Cephalobina reach their greatest diversity in the southwestern deserts and this research group has already found a new species during preliminary sampling on the reserve. Phainopeplas are well known mistletoe specialists, feeding almost exclusively on mistletoe fruits which are toxic to other animals. Because mistletoe is patchily distributed throughout the Mojave, phainopepla populations could show a high degree of genetic differentiation among local populations. Thus, these birds may be ideal for studying metapopulation dynamics in a patchily distributed species.