CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio man arrested after he brought a handgun and knives to a late night showing of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises", two weeks after the Colorado theater mass shooting last summer was acquitted on Friday of a felony weapons possession charge.
Prosecutors had accused Scott A. Smith, 38, of being drug addicted and in possession of a weapon, a felony that calls for up to five years in prison in connection with the incident last August at a suburban Cleveland movie theater.
Smith this week pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, but rejected a deal on the more serious felony possession charge that required him to give up his weapons collection and barred him from owning guns in the future.
Prosecutors accused Smith of being addicted to prescription pain and anti-anxiety drugs and using marijuana to help himself sleep, making it illegal for him to possess firearms.
Smith would stockpile his pain medication and take it intermittently or not at all, at times clouding his judgment, Assistant County prosecutor Aaron Brockler told Cuyahoga County Judge Kathleen Ann Sutula in the bench trial.
Sutula found, however, that prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the prescribed drugs adversely affected Smith's judgment, that he was stockpiling pain medication or that he was drug dependent.
Smith was arrested August 4, when he tried to enter a theater carrying a military style bag that is commonly used to carry firearms, about two weeks after the Colorado theater rampage that left 12 people dead and five dozen wounded.
An off-duty officer at the suburban Cleveland theater asked to check the contents of Smith's bag and found a loaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol, two extra loaded clips, three knives and medical supplies.
A search of his house turned up a cache of rifles, shotguns and handguns as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition. Ohio law requires the state to return the weapons, ammunition and bullet-resistant vests removed from his house.
Smith told Reuters after the trial on Friday that he planned to sell most of the firearms if they are returned to him. He said the firearms alone were worth $18,000.
When asked why he had such a large collection of rifles and handguns, Smith replied, "It's my Second Amendment right. I also have 15 different fishing poles."
The proposed plea agreement Smith rejected also called for him to serve nine months in jail. Smith could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison on the weapons charges. His sentencing is scheduled for March 15.
(Editing by David Bailey, Cynthia Johnston and Carol Bishopric)
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Indian troops shot and killed a Pakistani soldier who crossed the makeshift border separating Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir, officials said Friday, in a development that threatened to upset the delicate ceasefire in a region claimed by both countries.
The incident in Kashmir evoked similar episodes in January, in which three Pakistani soldiers and two Indian soldiers were killed. The deaths have ratcheted up tensions in an area where the two countries have long battled for dominance.
A Pakistani military official initially told reporters in a text message Friday that the soldier was reported killed on Thursday night after he'd accidentally crossed the line of control that separates the Pakistani- and the Indian-held sides of Kashmir, but gave no details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with military protocol.
In a more strident statement later Friday, the Pakistani military accused the Indian troops of killing the soldier after he identified himself and explained why he was accidentally in their territory.
The statement, from the public relations arm of the Pakistani military, said that civilians had seen the Pakistani soldier being questioned by the Indian military and told Pakistani officials. Pakistani officials then approached the Indians, asking them to hand over the soldier. But when generals from both sides spoke this morning, the Indian side reported that the Pakistani soldier had been killed, according to the statement.
"We condemn such an inhuman and brutal act of killing our soldier after he had identified himself and explained his position," the statement read. Inter Services Public Relations said that in previous incidents, when Indian soldiers have strayed into Pakistani territory, they have been returned.
Pakistan's foreign ministry also condemned the killing.
"The killing of our soldier who had lost his way and inadvertently crossed the Line of Control, goes against the understanding reached between Pakistan and India on speedy return of inadvertent line crossers and has the potential to further vitiate the atmosphere," it said in a statement.
Pakistan has asked India to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident and ensure it does not recur. But the Indians blamed the Pakistani soldier, saying he had begun firing when confronted by their troops.
Lt. Col. Rajesh Kalia, a spokesman for the Indian army in Kashmir, said the soldier was killed in a firefight with Indian troops in which an Indian soldier was injured. He said Indian troops had seen "suspicious movement" in the Nowshera sector of the line of control.
"Our troops challenged him. This individual resorted to indiscriminate firing. Our troops retaliated. In the ensuing firefight, he was killed, and one of our soldiers was injured," Kalia said.
Kalia added that Indian forces realized the dead man was a soldier "after the Pakistan army contacted our officers."
"We are returning his body with full respect as a soldier deserves," he said.
Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the Muslim-dominated region that each claim as their own. Any incident along the line adds to the tensions.
In January, three Pakistani soldiers and two Indian soldiers were killed in a series of attacks along the line of control. India said one of its soldiers was beheaded.
Pakistan and India struck a cease-fire agreement over Kashmir in November 2003. There have been periodic violations of the cease-fire, but the incidents in January were the most serious.
The resulting tensions have disrupted cultural and sporting ties: Performances by a Pakistani theater group were canceled in the western Indian city of Jaipur and in the Indian capital following protests by hard-line Hindu groups, and nine Pakistani hockey players who went to India to participate in a tournament were sent home.
More recently, the Indian-held part of Kashmir has been rocked by violent anti-India protests after a man convicted in the 2001 attack on India's Parliament was hanged in a New Delhi jail.
Many in Kashmir believe Mohammed Guru did not get a fair trial and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out only fuelled the anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.
A curfew has been in place since the execution, but groups of demonstrators have defied it and clashed with government forces. Three protesters have been killed and more than 100 have been detained, according to police.
Insurgents have been fighting in Kashmir for more than two decades, demanding either a separate state or merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan.
India accuses Pakistan of financing and supporting insurgents agitating in Kashmir.
__
Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India contributed to this report.
Vodafone has today started to accept pre-orders for the 4G-ready Sony Xperia Z smartphone, expected to launch in the UK at the end of this month.
The network says that the 5-inch, 1080p handset is equipped to work on its 4G LTE network when the roll-out begins for Vodafone customers sometime later in the year, following the Ofcom spectrum auction.
Vodafone is offering the impressive handset for free on a ?42 a month, 24 month contract, with unlimited texts, minutes and 2GB of mobile data.
Contracts further down the trough offer ?29, ?33 and ?37 a month contracts over two years, but users will have to pay ?149, ?99 and ?49 (respectively) as a one-off fee for the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 handset.
Free headphones
As an added bonus, the first 1,000 customers to order before the February 28 - the expected, but unconfirmed launch date - will get a free pair of Sony MDR-1R headphones.
The Sony Xperia Z was a big hit during its launch at CES and "impressed us hugely" during our hands-on review posted during the event.
With a 5-inch, full HD 1080p Bravia-infused screen, complete with the highest pixel density of any smartphone to date, it looks like Sony is onto a real winner.
Alongside the company's premium design ethic, there's plenty of power, top-notch imaging tech and the addition of waterproof and dustproof casing.
It's an early front-runner to challenge the very best smartphones of 2013. Check back for TechRadar's in-depth review of the device in the next few days.
Publicado: 12.02.2013| Autor: Manuel Bautista|Archivado en: Becas, premios y ofertas de trabajo / Scholarships, prizes and job offers|
Fully funded 3 year PhD Scholarship in Environmental Economic History
Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund on the project entitled: ?Testing the validity and robustness of national wellbeing and sustainability measures?. The analysis will be primarily quantitative (mostly time series), but will involve the collection and collation of NZ historical and various country contemporary data.
The Marsden Fund is the most prestigious source of research funding in New Zealand. The scholarship covers three years of university tuition fees plus a NZ$25,000 p.a. tax-free stipend for three years. The PhD research will consider aspects of the funded research and support the Investigators as required. The PhD student will be formally enrolled at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand (although they would be expected to spend time in Wellington and may be based there, subject to satisfying enrolment rules and regulations) and will be part of the 2013 enrolled cohort within the Department of Economics.
Applicants should have a background and a tertiary qualification from a recognised institution (Honours and/or Masters level) in Economics or Economic History, or a related subject. It is expected that the applicant would have experience in and a willingness to undertake, quantitative analysis using large databases; experience with STATA, EViews or similar software and data collection/collation from primary (often archival) sources.
The PhD research is scheduled to commence mid-2013 and will run for a three year period. Later start dates will be considered. Applicants who are neither New Zealand nor Australian Citizens or Residents will need to obtain a New Zealand Student Visa.
The PhD student will work closely with Principal Investigators (and PhD Supervisors) Professor Les Oxley (Department of Economics, University of Waikato NZ); Dr Arthur Grimes (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington, and University of Auckland) and Associate Investigators Professor Robert MacCulloch (Department of Economics, University of Auckland) and Dr Jamie Ataria (Lincoln University).
Information regarding applications can be requested from Professor Les Oxley (loxley @ waikato.ac.nz) or Dr Arthur Grimes (arthur.grimes @ motu.org.nz).
Institutional www pages:
University of Waikato: http://www.waikato.ac.nz Motu Economic and Public Policy Research: http://www.motu.org.nz University of Auckland: http://www.auckland.ac.nz
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday put up a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday put up a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)
LAPD spokesman Lt. Andrew Newman talks to reporters at a news conference in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. Police are now investigating more than 1,000 tips from the public in the search for Christopher Dorner, suspected of a deadly revenge plot against the Los Angeles Police Department. Neiman said the number of tips has grown from an initial 250 since the city offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Dorner. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman, left, takes questions from the media at news conference about conviction of former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, outside the LAPD headquarters downtown Los Angeles Monday, Feb 11, 2013. Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman, left, takes questions from the media at news conference about conviction of former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, outside the LAPD headquarters downtown Los Angeles Monday, Feb 11, 2013. Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A prosecutor who filed a murder charge against a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer that could result in the death penalty said he believes the man hasn't finished carrying out his vendetta.
"Just read his manifesto and look at his actions," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said. "He's trying to send a message, and it would be my belief that his message is not completed yet."
Zellerbach filed charges Monday against Christopher Dorner for the murder of Riverside police Officer Michael Crain and the attempted murder of three other officers.
The manhunt for Dorner, 33, began last Wednesday when he was named the suspect in the Orange County killings of a former Los Angeles police captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend. Hours after police announced they were looking for him, Dorner allegedly fired at two LAPD officers then ambushed the Riverside officers.
"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said at a news conference guarded by four officers armed with rifles.
Police said Dorner wrote a lengthy manifesto that was posted to Facebook after the double killing. The manifesto vowed deadly revenge on those in the LAPD responsible for his firing years earlier, and their families. Police now are providing protection for some 50 families thought to be targets.
The search for Dorner remained focused in the mountains near Big Bear Lake about 80 miles east of Los Angeles after his burned-out truck was found there last Thursday. Authorities are searching more than 30 square miles day and night in the ski resort area and checking on roughly 600 cabins.
Police urged area residents with security cameras to review images to see if Dorner was recorded.
Police and other officials believe a $1 million reward, raised from public and private sources, will encourage residents to stay vigilant. More than 1,000 tips had come in since the reward was announced, Lt. Andrew Neiman, an LAPD spokesman, said Tuesday.
"Now it's like the game show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'" said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."
Neiman also said investigators obtained new security video from a Sport Chalet sporting goods store in suburban Torrance but had not determined whether it shows Dorner. The video posted earlier on TMZ.com recorded a man resembling Dorner arrive with two small scuba tanks then leave with both those tanks and a larger one.
The wide-ranging search has created unusually heavy traffic backups at California border crossings into Mexico, as agents more closely inspect each car. State police in Mexico's Baja California were given photographs of Dorner and warned to consider him armed and extremely dangerous.
A U.S. Marshals Service affidavit used to obtain a federal arrest warrant on Feb. 7 cited probable cause to believe Dorner went to Mexico, but Neiman said Tuesday that it "in no way indicates one way or the other" whether Dorner is in that country.
Authorities have obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.
Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago, when a department board determined that he falsely claimed another officer had kicked a suspect. Randal Quan represented him during the proceeding.
Quan's daughter, Monica, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot dead Feb. 3 in a car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium. Last Wednesday, after discovery of the manifesto, Irvine police announced they were searching for Dorner.
Early Thursday in the Riverside County city of Corona, Dorner shot at two LAPD officers who had been dispatched to protect a possible target of Dorner, police said. One officer's head was grazed by a bullet; the other was unharmed.
Minutes later, Dorner used a rifle to ambush two Riverside officers, killing one and seriously wounding another, authorities said. The slain officer was identified as the 34-year-old Crain. The other officer's identity was not released to protect his family.
___
Flaccus reported from Riverside; Abdollah reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat contributed to this report from San Diego.
Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LATams
A few months ago, assistant women?s soccer coach Brittany Cameron was cheering for the Big Green from the sidelines as the team won its last seven games in a row, posting the second-best winning percentage in school history. Now, the roles have now reversed, as the women?s team cheers on Cameron when she joins the Sky Blue FC National Women?s Soccer professional team this spring in her fifth year of professional play.
In Thursday?s 2013 National Women?s Soccer League supplemental draft, Cameron was the first of four goalkeepers drafted and the thirteenth overall pick. Her new team, the Sky Blue FC, is one of eight teams in the newly formed National Women?s Soccer League and is based out of New Jersey.
?I?m doing something that I absolutely love,? Cameron said. ?What comes along with doing something you love is working hard and I?ve never stopped working.?
To train for her preseason, which will begin the second week March, Cameron has been working out on her own and playing with the Dartmouth men?s soccer team, training specifically with men?s goalkeeper trainer Emmett Rutkowski.
?I don?t accept mediocrity,? Cameron said. ?Even when I haven?t played in six months, it?s important to keep working and never accepting that you?re good enough.?
Cameron, a California native, has continued to grow and challenge herself throughout her soccer career. She was a team captain at Dublin High School in Dublin, Calif. and was named to the Contra Costa Times and the All-Diablo Foothill Athletic League first teams and was awarded league most valuable defensive player honors. Cameron continued her soccer career as a goalkeeper for the University of San Diego, where she posted nine shutouts during her senior year and earned the West Coast Conference Defender of the Year.
In 2009, she was drafted by the Los Angeles Sol as the 52nd overall pick. After leaving the Sol, Cameron played for two other American professional soccer clubs, the FC Gold Pride and the Western New York Flash.
Cameron joined the Big Green as an assistant coach last fall and plans to return in August once the Sky Blue season ends. Under her coaching, the Big Green accrued an overall record of 13-4 and a league record of 6-1, finishing second in the Ivy League.
?She brings a lot of energy and is a great person to have around the team,? women?s head coach Theresa Romagnolo said. ?She?s also a great motivator and brings a high level of experience to the team.?
Cameron devoted much of her time this season to coaching goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders ?15. They worked together to set season-specific goals, such as allowing less than one goal per game and being named to the All-Ivy team.
?In our end of the year meeting, we were talking about it and we achieved all of those goals,? Saunders said. ?There was not one specific thing we worked on, but just me becoming a better goalkeeper and reaching these goals and becoming a better leader on the team.?
With the help of Cameron, Saunders was named to the All-Ivy first team and the NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region second team.
Romagnolo said she hopes Cameron?s professional career will help attract recruits to Dartmouth.
?To be able to tell recruits that one of our coaches is playing in a professional league, something that a lot of these young players are aspiring to do, will be really great for our program,? Romagnolo said.
Saunders agreed that the Big Green will benefit from having Cameron continue to play and develop her skills.
?Her playing at such a high level means she will continue to grow as a goalkeeper and she?s going to be able to bring that knowledge back next fall, and hopefully help me and the other goalkeeper develop even more,? Cameron said.
As a coach for the Big Green this season, Cameron said she has learned much from the Big Green women.
?I?ve seen what it?s like to be a good all-around person both on and off the field,? Cameron said. ?The kids here are so smart and so willing to learn and I?ve learned from them just as much as they?ve hopefully learned from me.?
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 12-Feb-2013
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