The Rimrock Report
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA,
SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
April 2013
Volume 6, Issue 2
New V Bar V Range Program Website
Inside this issue:
http://cals.arizona.edu/vbarv/rangeprogram/
In the last Rimrock Report, we announced the new updated versions of three related
and important rangeland oriented websites: Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and
Arizona Rangelands. I hope you have all taken the chance to spend some time
browsing each of these and learning what they have to offer. We will continue that
trend in this issue with the official public launch of the V Bar V Range Program
Website. This website is designed to work alongside the original V Bar V Ranch
Website. You will notice a similar look and feel. It is also designed to stand on its
own. That is one reason it took 5 years to create. We wanted to wait until we had
enough material to warrant a range program website and we wanted it to be good. We
want you to use this site and we want you come back often. So, let’s start off with a
little tour.
New V Bar V Range
Program Website
2-4
Plant of the “week”
4-6
Chris’s Hot Range
Topic
7-8
Bales Elementary
Science Fair
8
View From the Rim
9
Just Me Talking
9
We wanted to
wait until we
had enough
material for a
website and we
wanted it to be
good.
The Rimrock Report
New V Bar V Range Program Website…..continued
On the top of the home page you will
find a menu bar with main topic
selections. Scroll over each item for a
short description. From anywhere in
the Range Program site, you can go to
the original V Bar V Ranch home page
(i.e. V Bar V Home), or make your
way back to the Range Program Home.
If you want to email us, Contact will
take you to an email form. In the center
of the home page we have an
introduction to the Range Program and
some of our favorite pictures or graphs
about the ranch. Click on “read more”
to find a poem about the ranch from
one of the earlier owners (Bruce
Brockett), illustrated by another of the
past owners (Bill Sullivan). More ranch history can be found at http://cals.arizona.edu/vbarv/.
If you scroll down, you will find a list of featured stories and a calendar of events. This is also where you will
find a “did you know?” which is just a collection of short facts and figures about rangelands. If you have a
good one, send it to us, we may
use it. The bottom of the page
contains links to the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences,
School of Natural Resources and
the Environment, Arizona
Cooperative Extension as well as
Rangelands West and Arizona
Rangelands.
Much of how to get around the
site and what you will find there
should be self evident. For
instance, current and past issues
of the Rimrock Report are found
under that title in the top menu
bar.
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Volume 6, Issue 2
New V Bar V Range Program Website.....continued
Readers of this newsletter should be
familiar with our Blue Collar Plants
project. Just in case you are not, we
take you to a short narrative about
the project before jumping right into
the plant ID site. Range Rocks! will
also sound familiar to Rimrock
regulars. This page should grow into
one of the most dynamic sections of
our website. Here, we plan to house
a variety of e-learning materials
such as videos, podcasts and outdoor
activities or lesson plans. This part
of the site is definitely still under
construction. Our recent signature
program grant from UA Extension
will go a long way toward
populating the Range Rocks! site with useful educational products. Check back over the next year and a half
to see what we come up with.
The Walker Basin History and
Data is one feature that we
carried over from the original
website. You will find a lot of
information about the ranch,
ecosystem sites, and grazing
management history. The
Extension and Research
Projects pages both contain
brief write-ups and pictures
from our current and recent
activities. The People page is
a roster that provides contact
and background information
for those of us in the Range
Program stationed at the V
Bar V, and or on the
collaborative rangeland
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The Rimrock Report
New V Bar V Range Program Website…..continued
monitoring projects associated with the Range Program around the state. Content on Videos and Media will
grow with the Range Rocks! program. For now, there are just a few examples from past extension activities,
distance classes, etc... Again, we hope you enjoy the webpage, we hope you will find it useful and we
welcome your feedback and suggestions. It is definitely a work in progress. I want to take this opportunity to
thank those who have worked on the V Bar V Range Program webpage. I very much appreciate all your
patience, hard work, and creativity. Good job.
Matt Rahr - Web Programmer and Developer
Yvonne Bourgeois - Web Programmer and Developer
Craig Boesewetter - Web Designer
Toby Torrey - Web Programmer and Developer
Barbara Hutchinson - Communications & Technologies
Chris Bernau - Research Specialist
Plant of the “week” by guest writer Sarah Noelle
I’m new to the desert southwest. And having been recently transplanted from the
Pacific Northwest, there are a large number of plants down here that utterly fascinate
me, particularly all of the cacti! This plant nerd has made it a personal goal to identify
each and every species of cacti that grow in the Grand Canyon State (and with Doug
bestowing upon me the title of “Cactus Queen”) it only seems fitting for me to write
this issue’s Plant of the “Week” about a cactus.
The cactus that I had always dreamed of seeing (and the first one I saw when my feet
hit the ground here in Arizona) is a major symbol of the American west and Arizona’s
state flower; the mighty saguaro. They’re like the sequoias of the desert!
Here are some reasons why the saguaro makes my “Awesome Cacti” list:
Saguaro extent map; http://
esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/little/ceregiga.pdf
It’s all about location.
Saguaro cacti (Carnegia gigantea) are only found in the
Sonoran Desert. Their range is limited by their frost
tolerance and elevation, growing from sea level to
approximately 4,000 ft. Saguaros are very slow
growing, about 1 to 1.5 inches in the first 8 years,
although my little saguaro seems to have exploded in
size since moving to AZ. Saguaro seedlings are very
Page 4
Saguaro seedlings; http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/cacti/
saguaros/saguaro.html
Volume 6, Issue 2
Plant of the “week”…..continued
hard to find because they grow under the protection of a “nurse tree”, most often a palo verde,
ironwood, or mesquite tree.
You’re only as old as you feel.
As with many plants, saguaro growth rates vary depending on local climate, precipitation, and
location. The period of greatest growth for a saguaro cactus is the transition from an unbranched to a branched adult. An adult saguaro is generally considered to be around 125 years
of age and the average life span of a saguaro is probably 150-175 years. However, biologists
believe that some plants may live over 200 years!
I love pretty white flowers!
When a saguaro reaches 35 years of age it begins to produce
flowers which are normally found at the terminal end of the
main trunk and arms, although flowers may also occur down the
sides of the plant. The saguaro will produce flowers throughout
the remainder its lifetime. In late April through early June, the
tops of the saguaro’s trunk and arms sprout a profusion of large,
creamy white flowers. Individual flowers open at night and
close the following afternoon. To develop into fruits, they must
be pollinated within this time frame and this is carried out by
nectar feeding bats, birds and insects. Each fruit contains approximately 2,000 tiny black
seeds. When the fruit and seeds are eaten by a coyote or cactus wren, the seeds pass through
their digestive system unharmed and are distributed throughout the desert. Interestingly, if the
seeds are eaten by a dove or quail, they will be completely
consumed in the digestive tract. It is estimated that a saguaro
can produce some 40 million seeds during its lifetime.
However, few will survive to become a seedling and even fewer
still will become an adult.
I’m captivated by groovy features.
During a heavy rain, a saguaro will absorb as much water as its root
system allows. To accommodate this potentially large influx of
water, the pleats expand like an accordion. Conversely, when
the desert is dry, the saguaro uses its stored water and the pleats
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The Rimrock Report
Plant of the “week”…..continued
contract. Because the majority of a saguaro is made up of water, an adult plant may weigh 6
tons or more. This tremendous weight is supported by a circular skeleton of inter-connected,
woody ribs. The number of ribs inside the plant corresponds to the number of pleats on the
outside of the plant. As the saguaro grows, the ribs will occasionally fork and the
corresponding pleat will also fork at the same place.
Cristate saguaro; http://www.neatorama.com/wp-content/
uplods/2011/01/AZ-poi-saguaro-national-park-af.jpg
Even when saguaro cacti grow in their normal form, they rarely grow
symmetrically and sometimes grow in odd or misshapen forms. The
growing tip occasionally produces a fanlike form which is referred to
as crested or cristate. Biologists disagree as to why some saguaros
grow in this unusual form. Some speculate that it is a genetic
mutation, while others say it’s the result of a lightning strike or
freeze damage. At this point it is unknown what causes this rare,
crested form. Observing one of these cristate saguaros in the desert
is another goal of mine, though I’m beginning to think finding one is
going to be harder than it seems.
Sweet indulgence!
Archeological evidence suggests that the Hohokam and Tohono O’odham
used the saguaro in their daily life, using the woody ribs for housing
framework and whacking down saguaro fruit to eat (antics that if you’re
lucky, you may catch me trying this year). They also use the sweet fruits to
make ceremonial wine, jelly and candies.
So as you can see, saguaros are pretty
awesome members of the Cactaceae, and
there’s no question as to why these mighty
cacti make my “Awesome Cacti” list.
Sources:
National Park Service, Saguaro National Park brochures. http://
www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/brochures.htm
Photo credits:
Myself, unless captioned
Page 6
Volume 6, Issue 2
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range: A Brome by any other name
“O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities: For nought so vile
that on the earth doth live but to the earth some special good doth give, Nor aught so good but strain'd from
that fair use Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse: Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; And vice
sometimes by action dignified.” -From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594
Now you might be thinking, “why quote Shakespeare?” Is there some deeper meaning, some hidden
existential philosophy or metaphysical vegetative theme? Perhaps, and careful analysis ‘might’ glean insight,
but it’s mostly tradition; as John Kava initiated way back when in his debut article. You Rimrock Report buffs
out there can probably guess why I didn’t opt for the “rose by any
other name” quote.
I can still play off that famous Shakespearean line, hence the title, and
we do like to lump our annual bromes together. I’m thinking
specifically of Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Red Brome (B. rubens),
and Japanese Brome (B. arvensis). I am hinting a little at the recent
and potential name changes with these annual grasses. There is still
some taxonomic debate as to whether or not Red Brome is its own
species or a subspecies of B. madritensis, and Japanese Brome used to
be called B. japonicus before being combined with Field Brome (B.
arvensis). So there is that, but there is something to be said about
simply lumping these annual bromes together when collecting data.
And why not lump them together? The three of them are native to
Eurasia, are cool season grasses, are more prolific with disturbance,
look somewhat similar, and have
an invasive reputation. They seem
analogous to each other;
ecologically redundant.
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) (Photo
by Sue Smith, Prescott, AZ)
Red Brome (Bromus rubens) (Photo
by Sue Smith, Prescott, AZ)
Cheatgrass by itself is infamous and notorious. There we have an annual
grass that has transformed the intermountain west. Filling innerspaces with
continuous fine fuels and increasing fire frequencies resulting in a more
abundant cheatgrass presence and dominance. Red Brome does play a
similar role in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. It too fills innerspaces
with continuous fuels, increasing fire frequencies to enhance its own
presence and dominance. So it’s understandable that land managers
become worried when reports indicate an increase in annual bromes.
Japanese Brome, however, is a different critter altogether. Instead of being
enhanced and increased by fire, it is typically decreased by fire. This is
because Japanese Brome is somewhat dependent on the micro-climates
created by litter, and because the seed heads hold their seeds until after the
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Volume 6, Issue 2
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range: A Brome by any other name…..continued
typical fire season which makes them vulnerable to fire. Thus increasing
dominance of Japanese Brome is often attributed to fire suppression.
This all makes decisions based on lumped annual brome data rather tricky.
There may be a potential problem, but in places where these annual bromes
overlap or are mislabeled, the wrong strategy on the wrong grass could make
things worse. The point? Lumping can save time, but an annual brome isn’t
‘just’ an annual brome. So know your annual bromes and plan accordingly.
Japanese Brome (Bromus arvensis)
(photo by NPS)
Bales Elementary Science Fair
Bales Elementary in Buckeye, AZ. recently held their annual science fair. The event represented students from
all grades filling the school gym with rows upon rows of every aspect of science. The next generation of
Rangeland scientists made a strong showing, with a wide variety of projects representing everything from
vegetation growth to hydrologic interactions. Foremost amongst them was 8th grader Leighanne Thompson
with her project titled, “Erosion: What type of
materials helped to stop soil erosion best.” She
was awarded a framed picture for Outstanding
Achievement at the Science Fair in a Range
Science related topic. Leighanne Thompson is
currently a member of the National Junior
Honor Society and will be attending Buckeye
Union High Schoool in the Fall of 2013. Her
teacher, Tracie Burns, describes her as a “very
smart and talented kid, with a great future ahead
of her.” Leighanne’s project will continue on at
the Westside Impact Science Fair on May 10th
and 11th. Pictured below is Leighanne with her
poster and prize.
Page 8
The view from the Rim
Things you may not have heard about the internet:
“If Al Gore invented the internet, I invented spell check.” Dan Quayle
“The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.”
Dave Barry
“The greatest thing about the internet is that you can quote something and just totally make up the source.” Benjamin Franklin
The University of Arizona
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
V Bar V Ranch
2830 N. Commonwealth Drive Suite 103
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
Phone: 928-554-8991
Fax: 928-554-8996
Cell: 928-821-3222
E-mail: dougt@cals.arizona.edu
Web: http://cals.arizona.edu/aes/vbarv/
Note: Please email me if you would like to be added to the
“mailing” list for this newsletter.
Just me talking...
Well, this is the 5th anniversary issue of the Rimrock Report. I looked it up and the 5th anniversary is
“wood”. So, I went down and registered at Home Depot. Y’all can send me 2x4’s. I went back and
read that first issue from April 2008. The lead article was one I recycled from a GLCI News issue in
2002. I guess it is not too surprising that we are still talking about drought. I need to take this
opportunity to thank all the people who have contributed to the Rimrock Report these past 5 years.
Y’all have done a good job. As always, please let me know what you like, don’t like and or, would like to see in this
newsletter. As much as it may seem that I do this for my own entertainment, the goal really is to be useful and
informative. So if we are not getting it done, let me know.
I hope that you will do the same for the new V Bar V Range Program website. As I mentioned in the lead article, this is
a work in progress and if we do it right, always will be. I intend for the website to be dynamic and not just sit there. The
reality of budgets and work schedules will certainly affect our ability to keep content updated, etc... but, we will try to
not let it get stagnant. The major factor in that effort will probably be Range Rocks! and how much progress we are able
to make putting together videos and such. Grants and staffing will keep the extension and research projects rolling.
The AZ SRM meeting in Prescott was another success. I never imagined we would get ~90 people to a Range 101 but
we did. We even dealt with an outbreak of flu or stomach bug that depleted our ranks of presenters. We heard from Jim
Sartin with animal science and Tom Hildebrandt from a wildlife perspective on professional societies. No one got hurt in
the excess horse session. Now that I am past president, I think I will suggest the theme for next year’s meeting to be
“The effect of global warming on wolf predation of feral horses”. That should be fun. The national SRM was also good.
Our team from the Arizona Cooperative Rangeland Monitoring Program (cooperative project with BLM) conducted a
workshop for the High School Youth Forum and did a good job. Keeping the attention of ~25, 16 to 18 year olds for 3
hours on the last morning of their trip is not easy. Congratulations to the UA Undergraduate Range Management Exam
Team. The team placed 5th and Kelsey Hawkes was the 4th placed individual. That is 2 years in a row for a top 5 team
and individual for the Wildcats. Larry Howery is their coach by the way. Another big accomplishment was that the
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Rangeland Monitoring Program was awarded the National Rangeland
Research and Development Award from the USFS. Hats off to George Ruyle, Del Despain, Kim McReynolds and Jim
Sprinkle for their years of work on range monitoring in Arizona. And thanks for letting me tag along. We had a good
couple of workshops on range monitoring in March. The V Bar V Range folks specifically talked about utilization. If
you see someone who was there, ask them what a bowling pin has to do with range grass.
Till next time,
Doug
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