Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center

The Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center is located in the rugged Granite Mountains of the East Mojave Desert. Research at Sweeney includes: Linkages between biotic and physical components of piedmont landscapes. Characterization of microbial communities and desert soil crusts, Ecomorphology of desert lizards. Systematics of scorpions. Ecology of ants. Systematics of wasps and bees, Bighorn sheep demographics and dietary requirements. Rattlesnake life history/ distributional ecology. Kangaroo rat physiology and foraging behavior, and Ecology and evolutionary factors that maintain genetic diversity in annual plants. Long-term demographics of desert shrubs.