Western and Utah juniper (WJ and UJ) woodlands have been expanding in range and infilling. Extensive resources have been spent managing theses woodlands, so understanding seed dispersal is critical in identifying mechanisms behind expansion. Junipers produce female cones (�berries�) that are consumed by frugivorous birds and mammals in many species, but the role of scatterhoarding rodents is unclear. Juniper cone and seed traits vary, with some species producing juicy cones (WJ) while others are dry (UJ), and some cones having multiple, smaller seeds (WJ) while others have fewer, larger seeds (UJ). We hypothesized that this variation has favored differing seed dispersal pathways. In northeastern California, we compared removal of whole WJ cones, hand-cleaned WJ seeds and bird-passed WJ seeds by rodents and birds. Birds preferred whole WJ cones while rodents preferred seeds. We also performed a seedling emergence experiment with the same three seed treatments and found that successful establishment requires WJ seeds to be removed from cones and buried. Additionally, we documented distributions of WJ seeds in four microsites after bird dispersal and subsequent seed removal by rodents. Juniper canopies had the most WJ seeds, and rodents depleted most seeds between winter and summer. To understand the impact of seed and cone traits on dispersers, we monitored removal of WJ and UJ cones and hand-cleaned seeds at a WJ site and a UJ site. Dispersers preferred cones of the local juniper species but seed removal was similar. Finally, to clarify the role of rodents as dispersers, we followed removal of radioactively labeled WJ and UJ seeds and found that rodents, especially pi�on mice, cached WJ and UJ seeds in microsites suitable for seedling establishment. Overall our research indicates that WJ seeds are dispersed by frugivorous birds and by scatterhoarding rodents, while UJ seeds are primarily dispersed by scatterhoarding rodents.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.