Reading information about adaptations and biomes

Scientists know that all organisms adapt when their environment changes. However,not all organisms adapt as readily as others. When an organism that can travel has a devastating event in their habitat (example, forest fire), that organism can travel away to a similar habitat where they can find a way to survive and possibly thrive. Plant organisms are much slower in their adaptations because moving to another habitat is very difficult (no legs!). Even so, plants can move, very gradually, over a period of many years.

Most plants require a narrow range of temperature and precipitation to survive. This creates biomes, or areas of climate, known by the vegetation that primarily exists in that area. The Juniper-Pinyon Biome is one of these areas. This is the third largest biome in the United States.

As climate change occurs, biomes are affected because their range of temperature and precipitation changes. One degree of change to a warmer temperature average would be a significant and detrimental event. This would cause a movement of the entire biome to move to higher elevations with cooler temperatures and more precipitation. Naturally, the biome would become smaller as there is less space at higher elevations.

An evolutionary kind of adaptation could also occur. For example, we know that some pinyon pine have adapted to warmer temperatures by having only one needle per fascicle. That keeps the need for water lower as well as giving less opportunity for releasing water from the surface of the needle. This single needle variety is known as the Pinus monophylla.

Scientists’ response at Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater is a model of climate change with its rising temperatures and declining precipitation.

1. One response has been the Common Garden. Seeds from Sunset Crater Pinyons were germinated and grown for two years at the Northern Arizona University greenhouse. Two thousand, six hundred seedlings were planted in an area about 500 feet above the elevation of the mother trees. A drip system was installed to assure that the seedlings would have a high rate of survival and be available for later experiments. Some of these experiments might include reducing water and studying the plants during artificial drought periods. Each tree is tagged with its mother’s identity as well as its own. That way, scientists can see if the traits of being susceptible or resistant to scale are carried on in the seedling. Other experiments based on other predictions or hypotheses of scientists can also be carried on at this site. Data from this garden will be collected and used to determine the survival ability of pinyon pine at higher elevations and to make future predictions about climate change, the pinyon pine and the scale insect.
2. Some trees at Sunset Crater that were susceptible to scale were treated with Tanglefoot. This product kills the scale but does not harm the environment. These trees are growing much better. Unfortunately, Tanglefoot can only be applied one tree at a time, making it a time consuming and costly answer to scale infestation.
3. Genetic studies are being done to determine if there is a difference between resistant and susceptible trees. Scientists also want to know if there is a “cost” to being resistant. In other words, do resistant trees give up anything (like faster growth of branches or root systems) in order to fight off scale infestation.
4. Data collection is being taken from other areas like the Navajo Nation at Tsaile, Arizona. Information from other areas can be used to determine whether other populations of pinyon are having similar issues with those at Sunset Crater. There are currently 9 areas where data is being collected.