Assessing vegetation structure and ANPP dynamics in a grassland–shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone using NDVI–rainfall relationships

Heras, Mariano Moreno de las; Díaz‐Sierra, Rubén; Turnbull, Laura; Wainwright, John

doi:10.5194/bg-12-2907-2015

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(146 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Erratic spacing of summer storms may also be partially responsible of the localized nature for the observed recruitment events (Valentine and Gerard 1968). Overall, the grassland-shrubland boundary at the Five Points area appears to be stable at present (Moreno-de las Heras et al 2015). In the absence of cattle overgrazing, no significant shrub encroachment is expected for the area unless extensive grass suppression by an extreme event similar to the severe and prolonged 1950s drought occurs (Peters 2002b).…”

Section: Implications For Vegetation Dynamics At Chihuahuan Grasslandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Average annual air temperature is 14°C (2°C in January and 26°C in July). Peak vegetation growth in the area is concentrated in July-September, coinciding with the summer monsoon (Moreno-de las Heras et al 2015).…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…L. tridentata seeds are also relatively short-lived and, although this shrub species does not show in general persistent soil seed banks, L. tridentata growth and seed production are quite stable in time, producing year-round small crops of viable seeds except for growing seasons preceded by extremely low winter temperatures (Valentine andGerard 1968, Boyd andBrum 1983). L. tridentata has a bimodal rooting system (encompassing near-surface and >70 cm depth active roots) that facilitates the use of both (ephemeral) shallow soil water-resources derived from summer rainfall and (more stable) winter-derived deep soil moisture (which is not available to grass species) for plant production, limiting the interannual variation in shrub seed production (Reynolds et al 1999, Ogle and Reynolds 2004, Moreno-de las Heras et al 2015.…”

Section: Structure Of the Soil Seed Bank And Availability Of B Eriopmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This process is well documented in the Chihuahuan Desert, southwestern United States, where drought-tolerant C 3 shrub species (mainly honey mesquite, Prosopis glandulosa, and creosotebush, Larrea tridentata) have colonized large areas of C 4 semiarid grasslands since 1850 (Schlesinger et al 1990, Van Auken 2000, D'Odorico et al 2012, Turnbull et al 2014. Shrub encroachment in this region has caused largely irreversible changes in ecosystem function (e.g., alterations in landscape net primary production patterns and reductions in biodiversity) accompanied by accelerated wind and water erosion, which is perceived to be symptomatic of land degradation and desertification (Baez and Collins 2008, Turnbull et al 2010a, Moreno-de las Heras et al 2015, Peters et al 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR, central New Mexico), the 1950s drought led to the conversion of large areas of grasslands dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda into sparse desert shrublands dominated by L. tridentata (Gosz 1992). Remote sensing explorations of vegetation and field study of both shrub architecture and vegetation dynamics indicates that the SNWR grasslandshrubland ecotone (i.e., the transition between the B. eriopoda-and L. tridentata-dominated communities) has remained stable for long periods after 1960-1970, showing little changes in either shrub progression or grass recovery (Allen et al 2008, Peters and Yao 2012, Moreno-de las Heras et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Seed‐bank structure and plant‐recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland‐shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone

Heras

Turnbull

Wainwright

2016

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(2016) 'Seed-bank structure and plant-recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland-shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone. ', Ecology., 97 (9). pp. 2303-2318. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1446Publisher's copyright statement:Copyright by the Ecological Society of America Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract. Large areas of desert grasslands in the southwestern United States have shifted to sparse shrublands dominated by drought-tolerant woody species over the last 150 yr, accompanied by accelerated soil erosion. An important step toward the understanding of patterns in species dominance and vegetation change at desert grassland-shrubland transitions is the study of environmental limitations imposed by the shrub-encroachment phenomenon on plant establishment. Here, we analyze the structure of soil seed banks, environmental limitations for seed germination (i.e., soil-water availability and temperature), and simulated seedling emergence and early establishment of dominant species (black grama, Bouteloua eriopoda, and creosotebush, Larrea tridentata) across a Chihuahuan grassland-shrubland ecotone (Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA). Average viable seed density in soils across the ecotone is generally low (200-400 seeds/ m 2 ), although is largely concentrated in densely vegetated areas (with peaks up to 800-1,200 seeds/m 2 in vegetated patches). Species composition in the seed bank is strongly affected by shrub encroachment, with seed densities of grass species sharply decreasing in shrubdominated sites. Environmental conditions for seed germination and seedling emergence are synchronized with the summer monsoon. Soil-moisture conditions for seedling establishment of B. eriopoda take place with a recurrence interval ranging between 5 and 8 yr for grassland and shrubland sites, respectively, and are favored by strong monsoonal precipitation. Limited L. tridentata seed dispersal and a narrow range of rainfall conditions for early seedling establishment (50-100 mm for five to six consecutive weeks) constrain shrub-recruitment pulses to localized and episodic decadal events (9-25 yr recurrence intervals) generally associated with late-summer rainfall. Re-establishment of B. eriopoda in areas now domi nated by L. tridentata is strongly limited by the lack of seeds and decreased plant-available soil moisture for seedling establishment.

show abstract

Section: Implications For Vegetation Dynamics At Chihuahuan Grasslandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Structure Of the Soil Seed Bank And Availability Of B Eriopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Seed‐bank structure and plant‐recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland‐shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone

Heras

Turnbull

Wainwright

2016

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Robust projections and consequences of an expanding bimodal growing season in the western United States

Tercek¹,

Gross

Thoma

2023

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant growth is restricted to times of the year when actual evapotranspiration (AET) is greater than zero because AET requires both the presence of water in the soil and temperatures warm enough to allow transpiration. Locations where water rather than temperature limits plant growth, such as semi‐arid areas of the southwestern United States, often have a bimodal growing season, such that distinct AET (growth) peaks occur in the spring and late summer, with a period of very limited plant growth occurring during the intervening summer months. We hypothesized that future warming will increase the zone containing bimodal growth seasons, likely resulting in significant changes in the competitive relationships between plant species that differ in their tolerance of a bimodal seasonality. This will likely alter plant distributions. Using climate projections to drive a water balance model, we mapped geographic regions within the continental United States projected to experience bimodal growing seasons in the future. The area containing bimodal seasonality increased under all 13 general circulation models (GCMs) and two representative concentration pathways (RCPs) examined. This robust result (seen in all alternative futures examined) nevertheless showed considerable variability depending on the GCM examined. The bimodal zone was projected to increase 13%–212% (49,000–792,000 km2) by the late 21st century relative to 1981–2010 estimates. Climate futures that contained the greatest temperature increases and greatest precipitation decreases projected the greatest expansion in the bimodal zone. For plant species that depend on relatively long, consistent time periods that are favorable to growth each year, the projected shift in seasonality may be an acute disturbance that could cause widespread mortality. These changes will likely have cascading ecological and management implications, including changes in the dominant plant life history strategies that occur in affected areas.

show abstract

Aridity Induces Nonlinear Effects of Human Disturbance on Precipitation-Use Efficiency of Iberian Woodlands

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Assessing vegetation structure and ANPP dynamics in a grassland–shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone using NDVI–rainfall relationships

Cited by 26 publications

References 71 publications

Seed‐bank structure and plant‐recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland‐shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone

Seed‐bank structure and plant‐recruitment conditions regulate the dynamics of a grassland‐shrubland Chihuahuan ecotone

Robust projections and consequences of an expanding bimodal growing season in the western United States

Aridity Induces Nonlinear Effects of Human Disturbance on Precipitation-Use Efficiency of Iberian Woodlands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About