Pinyon Cone Community Science Walk

Date/Time: August 4, 2024
Location: Meet at the GBBO office to carpool (1755 E. Plumb Lane)
Leaders: Kelly Colegrove, Diane Wong-Kone

Description: Learn to use Survey123 to document cone productivity on this field outing! GBBO developed a protocol and Survey123 form for tracking Pinyon Jays' primary food resource, the energy-rich nuts of the Pinyon Pine. These nuts provide food for Pinyon Jays throughout the winter, and are a valuable resource to many other species as well, including humans. The Pinyon Pine tree produces nuts in different amounts each year, and nuts take two years to mature. Sometimes, this results in Mast Years, when trees produce a huge surplus of cones, while in other years, cone production can be quite low.  With Pinyon Jay populations experiencing such steep declines, and Pinyon cone production being low in many recent years, it is of great interest to track productivity of Pinyon Pines. This information will be useful for researchers tracking Pinyon Jay populations, as well as for tracking the health of Pinyon Pine trees in different areas.