Ashe juniper
![ashe juniper ashe juniper](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u-SbdXzRfM4/UrGjZHc4eVI/AAAAAAAAATY/U-3FQn71diA/s1600/Ashe+Juniper+WH+Austin+TX+01012010+1+J_LW.jpg)
Most importantly, the fruit of Ashe and red berry juniper is quite edible, the red berry juniper is especially tasty.Īrcheological occurrence. These plants have much in common with Juniperus monosperma, or one seeded juniper, for which there is much information. There are a few notes regarding the use of red berry juniper.
![ashe juniper ashe juniper](https://votefordavid.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/juniper-berries.jpg)
A stand of red berry juniper is located in a wide canyon on Zuberbueler Bend within two miles of the Rio Grande.īecause most ethnography was recorded outside of the distributional limits of Ashe juniper, this author has not yet found mention of this plant the ethnobotanical literature. A specimen of Ashe juniper was collected at the Pecos River Gauging station on a rocky slope above the Pecos River (AMIS 41524). Near the Rio Grande juniper grows mostly near canyon heads, in canyons, or along north-facing slopes of low hills, but within 15-20 miles north of the river juniper is widespread across the uplands. Widely scattered solitary juniper trees or small stands are present throughout the Amistad Reservoir region. The most distinctive difference between the two is the fruit, copper-colored in red berry juniper and blue-green in Ashe juniper. Both species are evergreen trees that grow 18 to 20 feet tall with short trunks and scale-like leaves. Red berry juniper is the most common juniper of the Trans-Pecos (Powell 1998:27). Junipers are usually dioecious, that is some trees have all male flowers and some trees have all female flowers. The distribution of Ashe juniper is centered on the Edwards Plateau, but its westward limits include the eastern edge of the Trans-Pecos. Juniper was a truly useful and important plant for native groups in the Plains and Southwest.īoth Ashe juniper and red berry juniper have overlapping distributions in the western Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos regions. Its small fruits were eaten and its leaves were used for medicine and ritual. Its wood and bark was used as fuel and for toolmaking. Juniper is a medium-sized tree and several species grow widely in the region. Our analysis demonstrates a novel use of remote measurements of canopy foliation to link mortality risk from drought to the demography of Ashe juniper populations through properties of individual trees.Red Berry Juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.) Results imply that severe drought could kill a large fraction (18-85%) of intermediate- to large-sized Ashe juniper trees in central Texas savannas. Mortality risk was greatest at a grazed savanna, exceeding 50% of trees with projected canopy area > 20 m2. Mortality risk from drought exceeded 25% of emergent (> 4 m height) trees in savanna juniper populations, but was highest for largest trees. We found that the FSD of juniper trees is bell-shaped at each site.
![ashe juniper ashe juniper](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48333555452_e37df5f600_b.jpg)
Mortality risk of individuals was assessed from the deviation in leaf area per tree from that of a similarly sized individual with near maximal leaf area using correlations among leaf area, growth rate, and mortality measured during a prior drought. We remotely measured leaf area of living Ashe juniper trees at three savanna sites in central Texas, USA to characterize the frequency-size distribution (FSD) of juniper populations and evaluate mortality risk from drought as a function of tree size. Ecosystem impacts of woody mortality depend on both the number and sizes of trees that die, but a limited capacity to predict mortality risk for individual trees hinders the capacity to forecast drought effects on tree population demography and ecosystem processes. Tree mortality from drought is anticipated to increase as climate change promotes more frequent or severe water limitation.