Media Category: JRN

Sunset after a particularly brutal summer heatwave.

Oryx (Oryx gazella) were introduced into southern New Mexico, USA on the White Sands Missile Range (across the San Andres Mountains) during the late 1960’s. Today, groups of these non-native herbivores can be found throughout the Jornada Basin. This oryx stands among the honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and soaptree yucca (Yucca elata) on the Jornada Basin LTER site on a June morning. Site:Jornada Basin LTER site Photographer: Ryan Schroeder

A young, friendly criollo calf.

Mesquite shrubs invading a previously black grama dominated grassland.

A tenacious mesquite takes root in a wash.

Researchers at the Jornada take measurements using a pantograph, where a researcher with a stylus (center) traces the outline of a plant in a plot and the contraption translates the movements onto a piece of paper outside of the plot (bottom right).

Research methods for some extremely long-term datasets at the Jornada remain consistent to ensure data continuity. Here, the same photo in the same location with a new generation of researchers was recreated in 2016, updating the 1935 snapshot.

A quadrat at the Jornada Basin in 1935 (left) and again in 2016 (right), showing the stark difference in grass cover and ensuing shrub encroachment over the last half century

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument Curtis Monger