Category: Vertebrates

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Utah’s Recent Pinyon Migrations and the Prospects for Climate Change

Utah’s Recent Pinyon Migrations and the Prospects for Climate Change
Packrat Fossil Midden
City of Rocks
Copyright © 2009 Julio Betancourt

In the late 1970’s, springtime in the American West warmed abruptly by 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the valleys, double that higher up. Our average onset of Spring now comes a week earlier across the West. If these are the first signs of climate change, even longer growing seasons will trigger not just earlier blooms but also northward plant migrations.

The past provides us with lessons about plant migrations. A thousand years ago, one-needle pinyon hopped from the Raft River Mountains in Utah to City of Rocks, Idaho. Across Utah, two-needle pinyon leaped over the Uintas to Flaming Gorge. We know this from radiocarbon dates on pinyon pine needles taken from ancient nest heaps of packrats preserved in caves. According to Dr. Julio Betancourt of the U.S. Geological Survey, who uses these packrat middens and tree rings to reveal past plant migrations, these recent advances by Utah’s two pinyon pines followed the Medieval Climate Anomaly, a period from 900 to 1300 AD marked by warming in Europe and severe drought in Utah.

Utah’s Recent Pinyon Migrations and the Prospects for Climate Change
Packrat 7000 year old Midden
Joshua Tree Natl Park
Copyright © 2009 Julio Betancourt

Droughts figure prominently in Dr. Betancourt’s view of tree migrations. Droughts trigger bark beetle infestations, wildfires, and tree dieoffs, opening up niches for regeneration. When the drought abates, the resident tree species typically return. With long-term warming, however, other species can move in from lower elevations or further south. Dead trees now abound on Utah’s landscape, and Dr. Betancourt thinks that we are on the verge of a new spate of tree migrations.

This go around, which species retreat or advance will depend on new factors, including human fragmentation of the landscape and accelerated dispersal of native and non-native species that hitch rides with us. To conserve ecological goods and services associated with some species, Dr. Betancourt argues, we will have to manage for these plant migrations.

This is Linda Kervin for Bridgerland Audubon Society.

Credits:

Photo: Courtesy and © Copyright 2009 Julio Betancourt

Text: Julio Betancourt USGS NRP Tucson: Biotic Response to Climate Variability
Faculty and Staff > Julio Betancourt

Additional Reading:

USGS National Research Program: Tucson AZ
https://wwwpaztcn.wr.usgs.gov/home.html

Climate Change and the Great Basin, Jeanne C. Chambers, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Reno, NV, 2008,

A Database of Paleoecological Records from Neotoma Middens in Western North America, USGS/NOAA North American Packrat Midden Database, https://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/midden/ (Accessed 27 August 2009)

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Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper
Courtesy US FWS and
Photographer: Dave Menke

An ancient Latin proverb declares that: “Nature abhors a vacuum”. Every naturalist comes to learn that Nature also loves an exception. Sandpipers are a good example. Coastal beaches bring sandpipers to mind, their flocks either loafing about the upper beach or manically advancing and retreating just ahead of the surf line. Every beachcomber can picture the scene.

Imagine, then, hearing this solitary call during your hike past some montane stream, lake or beaver pond.

[Spotted Sandpiper recording, hosted by Western Soundscape Archive, J Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah Copyright 2007 Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections]

Spotted Sandpiper Habitat
Courtesy & Copyright 2010 Linda Kervin

That sure sounds like a sandpiper, but isn’t the context all wrong? Here you can trust your ears and not your experience. When the bird flushes and flies away on stiff shallow wing beats, you’ll see that the calling bird was indeed a Spotted Sandpiper, easily recognized by the dark spots that speckle its pale breast. This bird is sometimes called a “teeter peep” too, because it bobs its tail incessantly. Its an odd bird, for it is the male Spotted Sandpiper who tends nest and chicks, while the female busily courts other males. That’s polyandry and among birds, its very rare.

Unlike its more coastal kin, the Spotted Sandpiper is right at home in Utah’s high alpine habitats, just so long as it has shallow water and meadows in which to search for its invertebrate meals. Maybe the Spotted Sandpiper is not so exceptional after all, for the upthrust limestones, shales and other sedimentary rocks that compose many of our mountains were deposited under ancient seas that once inundated Utah. Perhaps the Spotted Sandpiper is just exceptional for its late arrival at that prehistoric beach party.

This is Linda Kervin for Bridgerland Audubon Society.
Credits:
Audio: Spotted Sandpiper audio courtesy and Copyright Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections

Photos: Courtesy US FWS, Photographer Dave Menke
and habitat photo Courtesy & Copyright 2010 Linda Kervin
Text: Jim Cane, Bridgerland Audubon Society

Additional Reading:

Spotted Sandpiper on Utahbirds.org, https://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/ProfilesS-Z/SpottedSandpiper.htm

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Rattlesnakes

Great Basin Rattlesnake
Courtesy & Copyright 2009
Holly Strand
Hi, I’m Holly Strand from Stokes Nature Center in beautiful Logan Canyon.

Its rattlesnake season in Utah, for the warm weather draws them out of their dens. We have 5 species plus 2 subspecies of rattlesnake in the state. The Great basin rattlesnake is the most widespread, living all across Western Utah at elevations up to 9000 feet. This is the fellow you see around Logan. Another subspecies of western rattler–the midget faded rattlesnake –is dominant in the eastern part of the state. The Hopi rattlesnake and the greenish colored prairie rattlesnake are found in southwestern Utah. And the Mojave rattlesnake, speckled rattlesnake, and sidewinder are found only in the extreme southwest corner of Utah.

The rattle itself is a unique biological feature. It’s a loose, but interlocking series of nested segments—actually modified scales– at the end of the tail. When vibrated, the rattle produces a hissing sound. Kevin Colver– an expert in natural sound recordings –provided this clip of a Mojave rattlesnake. Sound from Westernsoundscape.org Hmm. wouldn’t that make a great ringtone?

Aggression and venom in rattlesnakes vary by both species type and by individual. The western diamondback rattlesnake is the archetypal large, aggressive and very dangerous species, responsible for the majority of human fatalities. But its northern range limit is south of the Utah border. However, the Mojave rattler found in southeastern Utah is extremely toxic and excitable. Its venom attacks both the nervous system and circulatory system.

Luckily, rattlesnakes aren’t out to get us—mainly they just want to be left alone. You’ll be fine if you stay aware of what might be lurking in or around rocks. And don’t walk barefoot or in open-toed shoes in their habitat. Also, use a flashlight after dark –most rattlesnakes are active at night too!

Thanks to the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation—the Russell family for supporting Stokes Nature Center programs. And to Kevin Colver for the sound of the rattlesnake. Additional nature sound recordings can be found at 7loons.com and westernsoundscape.org

For Wild About Utah and Stokes Nature Center, I’m Holly Strand.

Credits:

Theme: Courtesy & Copyright Don Anderson Leaping Lulu
Audio:     Courtesy & Copyright 2006 Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections & Jeff Rice, https://collections.lib.utah.edu/search?q=rattlesnake&facet_setname_s=uu_wss [Updated January 2024]
Jeff Rice Bio: Ecosystem Sound [Updated February 2026]
Images:     Courtesy & Copyright 2009 Holly Strand
Text:     Holly Strand, Stokes Nature Center
Voice: Holly Strand, Stokes Nature Center

Sources & Additional Reading:

Klauber, Laurence M. 1982. Rattlesnakes. Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind. Berkeley: University of California Press, https://www.amazon.com/Rattlesnakes-Habits-Histories-Influence-Mankind/dp/0520210565 (1997 Version)

Vipers, Species, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Division of Natural Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?family=viperidae [Updated January 2024]

Tips to stay safe around rattlesnakes, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources, https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/utah-wildlife-news/943-rattlesnakes-safety-tips.html [Updated January 2024]

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Nighthawks Go Boom

Common Nighthawk courtesy US FWS, Dr Thomas G. Barnes Photographer

Birds gotta fly, and for that they have wings. But nature is a tinkerer, adding new functions to old adaptations, and so it can be with feathers.

Males of some birds make sounds during aerial courtship displays, sounds that do not originate in their throats. When these suitors periodically dive during flight, their modified wing or tail feathers vibrate like the reed of a saxophone, creating a hum that appeals to potential mates. In an earlier program, you heard the winnowing sounds of diving male snipe, and if you have a hummingbird feeder at home, you have been hearing a wing trill from insistent male broad-tailed hummingbirds as they display for prospective mates.

Today’s featured bird calls as it flies high overhead on our warm summer evenings.

[Kevin Colver recording https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections]

Those piercing nasal cries are made by Common Nighthawks as they sail effortlessly through the evening air on streamlined wings, their short wide bills agape to intercept flying insects. Periodically, this peaceful scene is disrupted by an unexpected booming sound.

[Kevin Colver recording https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections]

That was no bullfrog croaking, but the male nighthawk generating feather sounds during a brief nosedive. Their booming display is easily missed, leaving you to puzzle as to the source of such an odd outburst. It lends the nighthawk its other common name, the bullbat, like a bat in flight that sounds like a distant bellowing bull. No other Utah bird makes this sound. So as a fiery summer sunset unfolds, look for nighthawks peacefully plying the sky, and listen for their distinctive booming. We have waited all winter for such lovely moments.

This is Linda Kervin for Bridgerland Audubon Society.
Credits:
Audio: Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections
Photos: Courtesy US FWS Digital Library, Thomas G. Barnes Photographer
Text: Jim Cane, Bridgerland Audubon Society

Additional Reading:

Common Nighthawk, Utah Conservation Data Center, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Display.asp?FlNm=chormino

Common Nighthawk, All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/lifehistory