Tales from the Chiricahua Mountains As, Told
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Chiricaftua nountains Research. Symposium PROCEEDINGS Editors Andrew M. Barton and Sarah A. Sloane Pine Canyon United Methodist Camp Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona 16-17 March 1992 Sponsored by: National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Research Station of the American Museum of Natural History, and the Nature Conservancy Organizers Richard L. Anderson, Chiricahua National Monument, United States Park Service, Dos Cabezas Route Box 6500, Willcox, AZ 85643 Andrew M. Barton, Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 J. Carrie Brown, Douglas District, Coronado National Forest, USDA Forest Service, RR#1, P.O. Box 228R, Douglas, AZ 85607 Sarah A. Sloane, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Wade Sherbrooke, Southwestern Research Station, Portal, AZ 85632 Jeanne Wade, Douglas District, Coronado National Forest, USDA Forest Service, RR#1, P.O. Box 228R, Douglas, AZ 85607 Published by: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association 221 North Court Tucson, AZ 85701 December 1992 PREFACE The Proceedings presented here are from the Chiricahua Mountains Research Symposium held from 16-17 March 1992 at the Pine Canyon United Methodist Camp in the Chiricahua Mountains. The primary purpose of the symposium was to provide a multidisciplinary forum for information exchange and discussion regarding natural science (biology, geology, environmental studies) research in the Chiricahua Mountains. Oral presentations were invited from all scientists carrying out such research or its application to management in the Chiricahua Mountains and surrounding basins. Several presentations, including the evening address by Jerram Brown, were solicited by the symposium organizers. The papers included in this volume are based on presentations given at the symposium and are primarily summaries of research to date. Development and peer-review of proceedings papers were entirely the responsibility of the authors. In addition to these talks, the symposium included a welcome by Jeanne Wade (District Ranger of the Coronado National Forest Douglas District, which includes the Chiricahua Mountains), an opening address by Thomas Hoekstra (Assistant Director of the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station), a special presentation on Cave Ecology by Jerry Trout (Cave Specialist for Coronado National Forest), and a panel discussion of organizational perspectives on research by representatives of most of the public and private agencies managing land in and around the Chiricahuas. During the evenings, attendees participated in round-table discussions on several topics, including planning for an international Sierra Madre-Sky Island conference, recreational planning in the Chiricahua and surrounding mountains, and mechanisms for promoting research in the Chiricahuas. We gratefully acknowledge the tremendous amount of work of the other organizers: J. Carrie Brown, Wade Sherbrooke, Jeanne Wade, and especially Richard Anderson, who was largely responsible for the concept and successful execution of the symposium. The symposium and these proceedings could not have gone forward without the help and resources of Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Forest (Douglas District), the Nature Conservancy, and Southwest Parks and Monuments Association. Finally, we greatly appreciate the hospitality and efficiency of Gary Harmon and staff of the Pine Canyon United Methodist Camp. Andrew M. Barton Sarah A. Sloane The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS KEYNOTE PAPER A long-term study of the social system of the Mexican Jay in the Chiricahua Mountains 1 JERRAM BROWN THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS Roadside geology of the central Chiricahua Mountains -- a geological synopsis of the Turkey Creek Caldera 9 EDWARD A. DU BRAY & JOHN S. PALLISTER Geological structure of the Chiricahua Mountains inferred from geophysical data 13 MARK E. GETTINGS THE ECOLOGY OF FORESTS AND PLANTS IN THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS Factors controlling plant distributions: drought, competition, and fire in pines in the Chiricahua Mountains 19 ANDREW M. BARTON Factors affecting plant species richness in the Madrean archipelago north of Mexico 23 PETER S. BENNETT & MICHAEL R. KUNZMANN Sensitive plant studies in the "sky island" mountain ranges of S.E. Arizona 27 DAVID GORI The distribution and ecology of four rare plant species from the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona 31 JAMES MALUSA Studies in the Mycoflora of the Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona, U.S.A. I. Preliminary report on species distributions, ecology, and biogeographic affinities 35 FLORENCE H. NISHIDA, WALTER J. SUNDBERG, JOHN A. MENGE,JACK S. STATES, RODHAM E. TULLOSS & JOAQUIN CIFUENTES BLANCO Climatic factors affecting the arid-humid boundary and the distribution of woodland vegetation in the southwest 39 PETER G. ROWLANDS Distribution of mushrooms, mycophagists and confiers on sky islands of the southwest 43 JACK S. STATES Fire and flood history in Rhyolite Canyon, Chiricahua National Monument 46 THOMAS W. SWETNAM, CHRISTOPHER. H. BAISAN, ANTHONY. C. CAPRIO & PETER. M. BROWN Management of a rare lily, Lilium parryi, at Ramsey Canyon Preserve 50 TOM WOOD V THE ECOLOGY OF ANIMALS IN THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS Habitat associations of birds and herpetofauna in southeastern Arizona 55 WILLIAM M. BLOCK & KIETH E. SEVERS ON The distribution and habitat of Mexican Spotted Owls in the Chiricahua Mountains: preliminary findings 58 RUSSELL B. DUNCAN & JOSHUA D. TAIZ Amphibians and reptiles of the Chiricahua Mountains, a sky island in the Madrean Archipelago 62 CHARLES IL LOWE & RICHARD G. ZWEIFEL Getting laid, laying eggs, or giving birth: the amazing reproductive biology of Horned Toads 66 WENDY MARLOR Genetic variation and historical distribution patterns in populations of Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovi 70 GEORGE A. MIDDENDORF & J. S. FRANKEL Limiting factors and management strategies for Gould's Turkeys in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico 74 SANFORD D. SCHEMNITZ Homey "toad" tales from the Chiricahua Mountains, as told by a biologist 78 WADE C. SHERBROOKE Supernumeraries at bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus, nests in the Chiricahua Mountains: incidence, origins, and proximate causes 81 SARAH A. SLOANE Metapopulation studies of pikas 85 ANDREW T. SMITH Reintroduction of the thick-billed parrot in the Chiricahua Mountains 87 NOEL F. R. SNYDER & TERRY B. JOHNSON Biology of North American accipiters in the Chiricahua Mountains 91 NOEL F. R. SNYDER & HELEN SNYDER Seasonal movements of white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus couesi the Cabe Creek basin of the Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, Arizona 95 JOSEPH M. WELCH The Eared Trogon in Arizona: behavior, ecology, and management of the "Northern Quetzal" 98 SHERI L. WILLIAMSON v i OTHER ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS IN THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS The biopolitics of Cave Creek: a preliminary investigation 105 MAR! N. JENSEN A review of Geographic Information Systems, airborne video remote sensing technology research, and potential applications in Chiricahua National Monument 109 MICHAEL R KUN'ZMANN, LEE GRAHAM & DANA SLAYMAICER Partners for wildlife 112 SAM F. SP1LLER & KIRICE A. KING Lichens as biomonitors of air quality in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona 113 LARRY L. ST. CLAIR & CLAYTON C. NEWBERRY SOME MODELING APPROACHES TO THE ECOLOGY OF MOUNTAIN ISLANDS On the measure of order and disorder in the distribution of species on archipelagos 119 WIRT ATMAR & BRUCE D. PATTERSON On the role of males 123 WIRT ATMAR vii A Long Term Study of the Mexican Jay in the Chiricahua Mountains Jerram L. Brown and Esther R. Brown Dept Biological Sciences State University of New York Albany, NY 12222 Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains has special importance in the study of social birds, particularly for those species in which parents are aided in the rearing of their young by additional individuals, called helpers. Rearing systems with helpers are found most frequently among non-migratory species whose foraging behavior and diet allow them to survive the relatively harsh nonbreeding seasons on their breeding territory. Species with these characteristics tend to be more frequent in southern parts of North America, where winters are less severe. For those of us who do not live in the South, it can be difficult to find a suitable study area to study species with helpers. In the Chiricahua Mountains these species include the Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina), the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivora), the Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), and perhaps others. In 1969, when we needed to find an area in which to study helping behavior in the Mexican Jay (known from 1983-92 as Gray- breasted Jay), the search was limited because of the southerly range of this species to Arizona, New Mexico,and Texas. We had studied these jays previously in Madera Canyon, Arizona in 1958; but conditions there were unsuitable for longer study because of the presence of too many people. Fortunately the Southwestern Research Station at Portal, Arizona and the Coronado National Forest provided the necessary combination of natural habitat, isolation, encouragement and accommodations. The ability to recognize individuals can be a powerful tool for studying the behavior and ecology of wild animals. To do this in our study we applied colored plastic bands to the legs of over 1,400 nestling and full-grown jays. Each jay could then be recognized as an individual by its unique combination