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This paper presents a constraint-based analysis of a process that in Traditional New Mexico Spanish (TNMS) generates a syllabic consonant from a sonorant consonant + stressed high vowel combination. It is argued that although vowels are more suitable than consonants to function as prosodic heads, consonants may sometimes be favored over vowels in the role of foot and syllable head. This situation arises when a positional markedness constraint barring the marked value on the place-of-articulation scale (e.g., Dorsal) from the position of foot DTE becomes active. Contrary to previous approaches that assume that vowel deletion is a condition for the syllabization of the consonant, it is argued that the vowel that disappears in the process of syllabizing a consonant is not deleted but either absorbed by that consonant or assimilated to it. It is also demonstrated that syllabic consonants are subject to two universal alignment constraints that govern their distribution by forcing them to be coarticulated with another consonant. Although languages may vary as to whether the syllabic consonant is coarticulated with a preceding or with a following consonant, there are no languages where syllabic consonants appear between two vowels or between a vowel and a pause precisely because in such environments there is not an adjacent consonant available for coarticulation. The condition that the syllabic consonants of TNMS be coarticulated not with a preceding, but with a following consonant, is the reason why they do not occur in prevocalic or prepausal position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rhyolites contain quartz crystals with relatively Ti-rich rims and Ti-poor cores, with a sharp interface between zones, attributed to partial dissolution followed by overgrowth following a heating event due to mafic recharge of the system. Quartz crystals in the compositionally zoned, high-silica rhyolite Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuf erupted at 1.26 Ma from the Valles caldera, New Mexico, show a range in zoning styles with Ti-rich rims becoming more abundant upward in the ignimbrite sheet among progressively less evolved magma compositions. Here we compare times between quartz overgrowth and eruption obtained by applying Ti diffusion coefficients to Ti concentration profiles in Tshirege Member quartz crystals with those from cathodoluminescence (CL) brightness profiles and show that panchromatic CL provides only a crude proxy for Ti in quartz in this unit. Titanium concentrations are measured to detection limits of ~1.2 ppm with small analytical errors (<5%) using MAN backgrounds, blank corrections, and oblique corrected transects to resolve diffusion-relaxed zone boundaries as thin as ~10 μm. Timescales derived from Ti profiles using the widely applied Ti-in-quartz diffusion coefficients of Cherniak et al. (2007) range from 60 to 10 000 years, suggesting heating and mobilization events at different times prior to the eruption. However, the use of the newer Ti diffusivities reported by Jollands et al. (2020) yields timescales up to three orders of magnitude longer, including results that are geologically unreasonable for the Bandelier system. We suggest that assumptions commonly made in diffusion modeling, specifically about the form of the Ti zoning profile prior to diffusive relaxation, may be invalid. Melt inclusions in the Ti-poor cores of late-erupted quartz are chemically akin to early erupted melt compositions, while adhering and groundmass glasses more closely reflect the composition of the host pumice. Heating and mobilization events identified from quartz Ti zoning are thus linked to overall compositional zoning of the tuff, which may have been produced by repeated episodes of melting of a crystal cumulate cognate to the early-erupted, evolved rhyolite. Quartz-hosted melt inclusion faceting suggests the development of a crystal mush over a minimum time frame of 1000–10 000 years prior to the recharge events that produced the erupted Tshirege magma at 1.26 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mule deer Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque 1817) populations in southern New Mexico have declined significantly since the 1980s, similar to trends across the arid Southwestern USA. Because production of fawns is critical to population growth, we evaluated factors influencing fecundity in two mule deer populations in southern New Mexico. Conception, litter size and survival of ≥1 fawn to weaning were all affected by maternal age, with older (age 8 and older) females exhibiting reproductive senescence as compared to prime-aged (age 2–7) females for the latter two traits despite achieving similar condition as did prime-aged females. Litter size and survival to weaning were also positively affected by increasing spring precipitation and survival to weaning was also positively affected by increased maternal condition, and size during late gestation. Unlike most previous work, reproductive senescence was evident in mule deer in our study populations, possibly because deer in both populations were in poor condition and older females produced on average 0.24 (95% CI=0.10–0.42) fawns through weaning compared to 0.76 (95% CI=0.60–0.94) for prime-aged females. The positive effect of precipitation during gestation on litter size and fawn survival also indicated that both income (i.e. nutritional intake) and capital (i.e. body reserves) were important determinants of fecundity in our arid Southwestern populations. The relatively early onset of senescence compared to the lifespan of female mule deer indicates that more intensive management of female age structure may be necessary to enhance population-level productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) is a Holarctic boreo-montane species that has one of the largest natural geographic ranges of any mammal. At its southern range limits in arid western North America, the species is rare, and factors associated with its distribution are poorly understood. We hypothesized that the availability of voles (Microtus) as prey was a key limiting factor for the distribution of the species. Consequently, we predicted that important variables associated with the occurrence of short-tailed weasels included snow cover and riparian habitat, both of which are linked to abundant vole populations in this region. We tested these predictions in New Mexico using ecological niche models developed with a maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) and based on bioclimatic and biophysical variables. Consistent with our predictions, distribution of the short-tailed weasel was primarily determined by high winter snowfall and proximity to perennial streams. Descriptive habitat data associated with specimen records supported a close association of short-tailed weasels with riparian zones, especially those characterized by the presence of sedges and ponds made by the American beaver (Castor canadensis). We conclude that the short-tailed weasel is facing conservation threats in this region due to a fragmented distribution, degradation of riparian habitats, altered small mammal prey communities, and climate change. We recommend that the short-tailed weasel be considered in conservation planning in this region and that management focus on means to enhance riparian habitat and curtailing dangers posed by climate warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]