Desert Laboratory
U.S. Geological Survey
1675 West Anklam Road
Tucson AZ 85745
tele: 520 670-6821 ext. 118
fax: 520 670-6806
E-mail: jebowers@usgs.gov
Janice Bowers was born in California in 1950 and has lived in Tucson, Arizona, since 1969. She earned a bachelor's degree in botany at the University of Arizona in 1976, and came to the Desert Laboratory in 1982. Her research centers on climatic variability with respect to population processes such as reproduction, establishment, and survival. Her interest in autecology of cacti has led to investigations of their seed banks and floral biology. She has also compiled local floras and researched the history of the Desert Laboratory and its scientists. Janice Bowers is the author of four books of natural-history essays, including Fear Falls Away and A Full Life in a Small Place, and several wildflower guides.
Bowers, J. E., in press, New evidence for persistent or transient seed banks in three Sonoran Desert cacti. Southwestern Naturalist.
Bowers, J. E., Bean, T. M., and Turner, R. M., 2006. Two decades of change in distribution of exotic plants at the Desert Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona. Madroño, v. 53, p. 252-263.
Bowers, J. E., 2005. El Niño and displays of spring-flowering annuals in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 132:38-49.
Bowers, J. E., 2005, Influence of climatic variability on local population dynamics of a Sonoran Desert platyopuntia. Journal of Arid Environments 61:193-210.
Bowers, J. E., 2004, The Best Spring Ever: Why El Niñ Makes the Desert Bloom. Sacramento, California Native Plant Society.
Bowers, J. E., 2004, Temporal variation in longevity of Opuntia engelmannii (Cactaceae) flowers. Madroño, v. 51, p. 280-285.
Bowers, J. E., 2004, Diversified germination behavior of Parkinsonia microphylla (foothill paloverde, Fabaceae). Madroño, v. 51, p. 286-291.
Bowers, J. E., 2004, Frequently Asked Questions about the Saguaro. Tucson, Western National Parks Association.
Bowers, J. E., Turner, R. M., and Burgess, T. L., 2004, Temporal and spatial patterns in emergence and early survival of perennial plants in the Sonoran Desert. Plant Ecology, v. 172, p. 107-119.
Turner, R. M., Webb, R. H., and Bowers, J. E., 2003, The Changing Mile Revisited. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 300 p.
Bowers, J. E., 2002a, Regeneration of triangle-leaf bursage (Ambrosia deltoidea: Asteraceae): Germination behavior and between-year seed bank. Southwestern Naturalist, v. 47, p. 449-453.
Bowers, J. E., 2002b, Flowering patterns and reproductive ecology of Mammillaria grahamii (Cactaceae), a common, small cactus in the Sonoran Desert. Madroño, v. 49, p. 201-206.
Bowers, J. E. and Turner, R. M., 2002, The influence of climatic variability on local population dynamics of foothill paloverde (Cercidium microphyllum). Oecologia, v. 130, p. 105-113.
Bowers, J. E. and Pierson, E. A., 2001, Implications of seed size for seedling survival in Carnegiea gigantea and Ferocactus wislizeni (Cactaceae). Southwestern Naturalist, v. 46, p. 272-281.
Bowers, J. E. and Turner, R. M., 2001, Dieback and episodic mortality of Cercidium microphyllum (foothill paloverde), a dominant Sonoran Desert tree. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, v. 128, p. 128-140.
McLaughlin, S. P., Geiger, E. L., and Bowers, J. E., 2001, A flora of the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, northeastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, v. 33, p. 113-131.
Bowers, J. E., 2000, Does Ferocactus wislizeni (Cactaceae) have a between-year seed bank? Journal of Arid Environments, v. 45, p. 197-205.
McLaughlin, S. P. and Bowers, J. E., 1999, Diversity and affinities of the flora of the Sonoran Floristic Province: in Robichaux, R. (ed.), Ecology and Conservation of the Sonoran Desert Flora, p. 12-35. Tucson, University of Arizona Press.
Dykinga, J. and Bowers, J. E., 1999, Desert: The Mojave and Death Valley. New York, Harry N. Abrams, 143 p.
Bowers, J. E., 1998, Reproductive potential and minimum reproductive size of Ferocactus wislizeni (Cactaceae). Desert Plants, v. 14, p. 3-7.
Bowers, J. E., 1997a, The effect of drought on Engelmann prickly pear (Cactaceae: Opuntia engelmannii Salm.-Dyck) fruit and seed production. Southwestern Naturalist, v. 42, p. 240-242.
Bowers, J. E., 1997b, Demographic patterns of Ferocactus cylindraceus in relation to substrate age and grazing history. Plant Ecology, v. 7, p. 1-12.
Bowers, J. E., 1997c, Fear Falls Away and Other Essays from Hard and Rocky Places. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 160 p.
Bowers, J. E., Webb, R. H., and Pierson, E. A., 1997, Primary succession of desert plants on debris-flow terraces, Grand Canyon, U.S.A. Journal of Arid Environments, v. 36, p. 67-86.
Bowers, J. E., 1996a, More flowers or new cladodes? Environmental correlates and biological consequences of sexual reproduction in a Sonoran Desert prickly pear cactus, Opuntia engelmannii. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, v. 123, p. 34-40.
Bowers, J. E., 1996b, Environmental determinants of flowering date in the columnar cactus Carnegiea gigantea in the northern Sonoran Desert. Madroño, v. 43, p. 69-84.
Bowers, J. E., 1996c, Perennial seedling emergence on Sonoran Desert dunes. Journal of Arid Environments, v. 33, p. 63-72.
Bowers, J. E., 1996d, Growth rate and life span of a prickly pear cactus, Opuntia engelmannii, in the northern Sonoran Desert. Southwestern Naturalist, v. 41, p. 315-318.
Bowers, J. E., and McLaughlin, S. P., 1996, Flora of the Huachuca Mountains, a botanically rich and historically significant sky island in Cochise County, Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, v. 29, p. 67-107.
Turner, R. M., Bowers, J. E., and Burgess, T. L. 1995, Sonoran Desert Plants: An Ecological Atlas. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 504 p.
Bowers, J. E., Webb, R. H., and Rondeau, R. J., 1995, Longevity, recruitment and mortality of desert plants in Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.A. Journal of Vegetation Science, v. 6, p. 551-564.
Bowers, J. E., 1994, Natural conditions for seedling emergence of three woody species in the northern Sonoran Desert, Madroño, v. 41, p. 73-84.
Bowers, J. E., and Dimmitt, M. A., 1994, Flowering phenology of six woody plants in the northern Sonoran Desert, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, v. 121, p. 215-229.
Bowers, J.E., 1993a, A Full Life in a Small Place and Other Essays from a Desert Garden. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 166 p.
Bowers, J. E., 1993b, Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Deserts. Tucson, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 140 p.
Bowers, J.E., and McLaughlin, S. P., 1993, Noteworthy collections: Arizona, Madroño v. 40, p. 132-133.
Webb, R. H., and Bowers, J.E., 1993, Plant demography and burro grazing in Grand Canyon: in D. D. Young, ed., Vegetation Management of Hot Desert Rangeland Ecosystems: Papers Presented at a Symposium, p. 210-223. University of Arizona, Tucson.
Webb, R. H., and Bowers, J.E., 1993, Changes in frost frequency and desert vegetation assemblages in Grand Canyon, Arizona: in Redmond, K.T. (ed.), Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Pacific Climate (PACLIM) Workshop, April 21-24, 1992: California Department of Water Resources, Interagency Ecology Studies Program Technical Report No. 34, p. 1-12.
Bowers, J. E., 1992, Plant World and its metamorphosis from a popular journal into Ecology, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, v. 119, p. 333-341
Burgess, T. L., Bowers, J.E., and Turner, R. M., 1991, Exotic plants at the Desert Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona, Madroño, v. 38, p. 96-114.
Bowers, J. E., 1991, The Mountains Next Door: Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 196 p.
Bowers, J.E., 1990a, A debt to the future: Scientific achievements of the Desert Laboratory, Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona, Desert Plants, v. 10, p. 9-12, 35-47.
Bowers, J.E., 1990b, William A. Cannon: The Sonoran Desert's first resident ecologist, Madroño, v. 37, p. 6-27.
Bowers, J.E., 1990c, Vegetation change at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: in Bennett, P. S., Johnson, R. R., and McCarthy, M. M. (eds.), Assessment of Scientific Information and Activities at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Biosphere Reserve: Tucson, AZ, Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, Special Report No. 10, p. 85-132.
Bowers, J.E., 1990d, Natural Rubber-Producing Plants for the United States: Beltsville, MD, National Agricultural Library, 43 p.
McLaughlin, S. P., and Bowers, J.E., 1990, A floristic analysis and checklist for the northern Santa Rita Mountains, Pima Co., Arizona, Southwestern Naturalist, v. 35, p. 61-75.
Bowers, J.E., 1989, 100 Desert Wildflowers of the Southwest: Tucson, AZ, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 120 p.
Bowers, J.E., 1988a, A Sense of Place: The Life and Work of Forrest Shreve: Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 196 p.
Bowers, J.E., 1988b, Chiricahua: Tucson, AZ, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 64 p.
Turner, R. M., and Bowers, J. E., 1988, Long-term changes in populations of Carnegiea gigantea, exotic plant species and Cercidium floridum at the Desert Laboratory, Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona, in Whitehead, E. E., Hutchinson, C. F., Timmermann, B. N., and Varady, R. G. (eds.), Arid Lands Today and Tomorrow, Proceedings of an International Research and Development Conference, Tucson, Arizona, October 20-25, 1985: Boulder, CO, Westview Press.
McLaughlin, S. P., Bowers, J.E., and Hall, K. R. F., 1987, Vascular plants of eastern Imperial County, California, Madroño, v. 34, p. 359-378.
Bowers, J.E., 1987, 100 Roadside Wildflowers of Southwest Woodlands: Tucson, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 120 p.
Bowers, J.E., and McLaughlin, S. P., 1987, Flora and vegetation of the Rincon Mountains, Pima County, Arizona, Desert Plants, v. 8, p. 49-96.
Bowers, J.E., 1986a, Seasons of the Wind: A Naturalist's Look at the Plant Life of Southwestern Sand Dunes: Flagstaff, AZ, Northland Press, 156 p.
Bowers, J.E., 1986b, A career of her own: Edith Shreve at the Desert Laboratory, Desert Plants, v. 8, p. 23-29
Bowers, J.E., and Turner, R. M., 1985, A revised vascular flora of Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona, Madroño, v. 32, p. 225-252.
Bowers, J.E., 1985, The making of a flora for Arizona, 1901-1951, Desert Plants, v. 7, 181-183, 211.
Bowers, J.E., 1984, Plant geography of southwestern sand dunes, Desert Plants, v. 6, p. 31-42, 51-54.
Bowers, J.E., 1983, Jacob Corwin Blumer: Arizona botanist, Brittonia, v. 35, p. 197-203. Bowers, J.E., 1982a, Plant ecology of inland dunes in western North America, Journal of Arid Environments, v. 5, p. 199-220.
Bowers, J.E., 1982b, Local floras of the Southwest, 1920-1980: An annotated bibliography, Great Basin Naturalist, v. 42, p. 105-112.
Bowers, J.E., and McLaughlin, S. P., 1982, Noteworthy collections: Arizona, Madroño, v. 29, p. 57.
Bowers, J.E., and McLaughlin, S. P., 1982, Plant species diversity in Arizona, Madroño, v. 29, p. 227-233.
Bowers, J.E., 1981a, Local floras of Arizona: An annotated bibliography, Madroño, v. 28, p. 193-209.
Bowers, J.E., 1981b, Catastrophic freezes in the Sonoran Desert, Desert Plants, v. 2, p. 232-236.
McLaughlin, S. P., and Bowers, J.E., 1981, Effects of fire on a Sonoran Desert plant community, Ecology, v. 63, p. 246-248.
Warren, P. L., Mortensen, B. K., Treadwell, B. D., Bowers, J.E., and Reichhardt, K. L., 1981, Vegetation of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: Tucson, AZ, Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, Technical Report no. 8, 79 p.
Bowers, J.E., 1980, Flora of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, v. 15, 1-11, 33-47.
Urry, Janice Bowers, 1979, Additions to the Arizona flora, Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, v. 14, p. 21.
Urry, Janice Bowers, Ferguson, N., and Mouat, D. A., 1979, A natural resource analysis of the province of Zinder, Niger using remote sensing techniques, in Final Report of the Natural Resource Planning Project for the Province of Zinder, Niger, Appendix 1, p. 1-23: Tucson, AZ, Arid Lands Natural Resources Committee, University of Arizona.