Indicators of Great Basin rangeland health

Soyza, Amrita G. de; Zee, Justin W. Van; Whitford, Walter G.; Neale, Anne C.; Tallent-Hallsel, Nita; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; Havstad, Kris M.

doi:10.1006/jare.2000.0645

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The decrease in the perennial grass cover may provide an early indicator of the potential for ecosystem deterioration. A high percentage of perennial grass cover as well as a low distance between perennial plants indicate a high potential for a site to recover from periods of stress, i.e., the ability to re-establish a grass cover over bare patches generated after grazing disturbance or during a period of environmental stress (de Soyza et al 2000).…”

Section: Soil Surface Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Erosion Thresholds and Alternative States in Northeastern Patagonian Rangelands

Chartier¹,

Rostagno²

2006

REM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In semiarid rangelands, continuous grazing may decrease vegetation cover, accelerating soil erosion and eventually causing a transition to an alternative, degraded state. State-and-transition models invoke process-based explanations of alternative states, but there are few examples that use empirical data on key factors and processes. We used rainfall simulation to determine 1) the relationships between soil surface characteristics and interrill erosion in 3 spatially related plant communities: stable grass with scattered shrubs (GS), degraded grass with scattered shrubs (DGS), and degraded shrub steppes (DSS), and 2) the site conservation threshold (SCT) of this rangeland. We also analyzed the effect of past erosion on soil and vegetation characteristics. In the GS, sediment production and sediment concentration were significantly lower (p , 0.05) than in the DGS and the DSS. The main soil protection factors in the GS and in the DGS were perennial grass and litter cover, while in the DSS, gravel cover became the main soil protection factor. The SCT, the point at which the rate of soil erosion increases markedly, corresponded to a plant-and-litter cover close to 90% and occurred within the DGS. Although this plant community may reverse back to the conserved GS, long-term accelerated erosion may result in enough soil loss to trigger irreversible changes and prompt the transition to the DSS. The threshold underlying this transition would be reached when the A horizon is severely reduced by erosion. Under these conditions, the soil hydrological properties are affected irreversibly, preventing perennial grass establishment. While the GS represents a resource conserving plant community, desirable for both forage production and soil protection, the DSS represents a dysfunctional state with a minimum forage value. The DGS represents an unstable and transitional community that, without management intervention to halt soil erosion, will likely change into the DSS. ResumenEn los pastizales naturales semiá ridos, el pastoreo continuo puede disminuir significativamente la cobertura de la vegetació n, acelerar la erosió n del suelo y eventualmente causar una transició n hacia estados alternativos degradados. Los modelos de estados y transiciones generalmente explican estados alternativos en funció n de distintos procesos, sin embargo hay pocos ejemplos que usen datos empíricos. Nosotros empleamos lluvia simulada a los fines de determinar 1) las relaciones entre las características superficiales del suelo y la vegetació n y la erosió n laminar en 3 comunidades vegetales espacialmente relacionadas: una estepa herbá cea con arbustos (EH), una estepa herbácea degradada con arbustos (EHD), y una estepa arbustiva degradada (EAD), y 2) el umbral de conservació n del sitio (UCS) en éste pastizal. También analizamos el efecto de la erosió n histó rica sobre las características superficiales del suelo y la vegetació n. En la EH la producció n y la concentració n de sedimentos fueron significativamente má s bajos (p , 0.05) que...

show abstract

Section: Soil Surface Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Erosion Thresholds and Alternative States in Northeastern Patagonian Rangelands

Chartier¹,

Rostagno²

2006

REM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is underlined by the fact that perennial shrubs (in particular H. salicornicum) that would normally dominate the vegetation are largely absent, except in a few large natural depressions nearby (several hundred m 2 in size) in which wind-blown sand has accumulated. Plant canopies are important for protecting soil resources (de Soyza et al, 2000), and due to their absence in the study area, virtually the entire surface sand layer has been lost to deflation. The exposed substrate is very compact, with average penetration resistance values of 3·1 at field capacity, and increasing considerably on drying.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off-road vehicles and vegetation patterning in a degraded desert ecosystem in Kuwait

Brown

Schoknecht

2001

Journal of Arid Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Shrub cover and density can be effective indicators of ecological condition and resiliency, and can facilitate ecosystem restoration in the sagebrush grassland region (De Soyza et al, 2000;Pyke et al, 2002;Davies et al, 2006). De Soyza et al (2000) found that increasing sagebrush cover lowered bare patch size, resulting in During the past 130 years, western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…De Soyza et al (2000) found that increasing sagebrush cover lowered bare patch size, resulting in During the past 130 years, western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) has rapidly expanded into sagebrush communities impacting plant structure and function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of GIS-based models to predict plant community structure in relation to western juniper establishment

Petersen

Stringham

2008

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Indicators of Great Basin rangeland health

Cited by 37 publications

References 9 publications

Soil Erosion Thresholds and Alternative States in Northeastern Patagonian Rangelands

Soil Erosion Thresholds and Alternative States in Northeastern Patagonian Rangelands

Off-road vehicles and vegetation patterning in a degraded desert ecosystem in Kuwait

Development of GIS-based models to predict plant community structure in relation to western juniper establishment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About