Rainfall and drought experiment, Pinyon Flats

We are examining how variation in seasonality of drought and rainfall influences plant community dynamic and ecosystem functioning in a Pinyon-Juniper woodland. We are currently in the 8th year of this experiment and are asking how rainfall effects alter the interaction between soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, plant community composition and diversity, and above ground productivity. We are also asking how legacies of facilitation by pinyon pine and juniper alter contemporary spatial structure of plant diversity and non-native species invasions.