Scale-Dependent Feedbacks Between Patch Size and Plant Reproduction in Desert Grassland

Svejcar, Lauren N.; Bestelmeyer, Brandon T.; Duniway, Michael C.; James, Darren

doi:10.1007/s10021-014-9818-9

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…, Rotundo and Aguiar ), creating improved conditions for grass recruitment and persistence in many cases (but can be scale dependent; Svejcar et al. ). Significant fragmentation of these vegetated patches by heavy livestock grazing or drought may generate an alternative set of feedbacks that reverse these conditions and promote a degraded state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dryland degradation can result from a breakdown in feedbacks between vegetation patches and local resource capture (Schlesinger et al 1990). Compared to their adjacent un-vegetated matrix, perennial grass patches are associated with higher levels of water infiltration, waterholding capacity, soil nutrients, physical retention of soil, grass propagule density, and reduced microclimatic water stress (Schlesinger et al 1990, Wainwright et al 2002, Rotundo and Aguiar 2005, creating improved conditions for grass recruitment and persistence in many cases (but can be scale dependent; Svejcar et al 2015). Significant fragmentation of these vegetated patches by heavy livestock grazing or drought may generate an alternative set of feedbacks that reverse these conditions and promote a degraded state.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Small‐scale barriers mitigate desertification processes and enhance plant recruitment in a degraded semiarid grassland

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Citation: Fick, S. E., C. Decker, M. C. Duniway, and M. E. Miller. 2016. Small-scale barriers mitigate desertification processes and enhance plant recruitment in a degraded semi-arid grassland. Ecosphere 7(6):e01354. 10.1002/ecs2.1354Abstract. Anthropogenic desertification is a problem that plagues drylands globally; however, the factors which maintain degraded states are often unclear. In Canyonlands National Park on the Colorado Plateau of southeastern Utah, many degraded grasslands have not recovered structure and function >40 yr after release from livestock grazing pressure, necessitating active restoration. We hypothesized that multiple factors contribute to the persistent degraded state, including lack of seed availability, surficial soilhydrological properties, and high levels of spatial connectivity (lack of perennial vegetation and other surface structure to retain water, litter, seed, and sediment). In combination with seeding and surface raking treatments, we tested the effect of small barrier structures ("ConMods") designed to disrupt the loss of litter, seed and sediment in degraded soil patches within the park. Grass establishment was highest when all treatments (structures, seed addition, and soil disturbance) were combined, but only in the second year after installation, following favorable climatic conditions. We suggest that multiple limiting factors were ameliorated by treatments, including seed limitation and microsite availability, seed removal by harvester ants, and stressful abiotic conditions. Higher densities of grass seedlings on the north and east sides of barrier structures following the summer months suggest that structures may have functioned as artificial "nurse-plants", sheltering seedlings from wind and radiation as well as accumulating windblown resources. Barrier structures increased the establishment of both native perennial grasses and exotic annuals, although there were species-specific differences in mortality related to spatial distribution of seedlings within barrier structures. The unique success of all treatments combined, and even then only under favorable climatic conditions and in certain soil patches, highlights that restoration success (and potentially, natural regeneration) often is contingent on many interacting factors.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Small‐scale barriers mitigate desertification processes and enhance plant recruitment in a degraded semiarid grassland

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The NPP location soil moisture monitoring design was strongly influenced by the recent islands of fertility concepts (Schlesinger et al 1990). The results from the mesquite shrublands presented here suggest that coppice dunes are drier than the surrounding interspace and maybe viewed as desert islands where the shrubs are perhaps foraging for water in the surrounding interspaces (Gile et al 1997), though more work is needed to test this hypothesis and other hypotheses regarding plant-soil feedbacks and plant-patch dynamics (Svejcar et al 2014, Bestelmeyer et al 2015.…”

Section: Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…), though more work is needed to test this hypothesis and other hypotheses regarding plant–soil feedbacks and plant–patch dynamics (Svejcar et al. , Bestelmeyer et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil water dynamics at 15 locations distributed across a desert landscape: insights from a 27‐yr dataset

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Desert ecosystems are primarily limited by water availability. Within a climatic regime, topography, soil characteristics, and vegetation are expected to determine how the combined effects of precipitation, temperature, and evaporative demand of the atmosphere shape the spatial and temporal patterns of water within the soil profile and across a landscape. To forecast how desert landscapes may respond to future climatic conditions, it is imperative to improve our understanding of these ecohydrologic processes. Here, we report on 27 yr of monthly soil volumetric water content (VWC) measurements and associated soils data from a site in the northern Chihuahuan Desert of North America. The dataset includes VWC and soil properties measured to 3 m in depth across 15 locations that encompass a range of Chihuahuan Desert vegetation types. We use this unique dataset (1) to generate insights into general temporal and depth patterns in VWC, (2) to analyze how VWC corresponds to measures of climatic conditions, and (3) to qualitatively evaluate the relative importance of soils, topographic setting, and vegetation type in mediating temporal patterns in VWC. Analyses of this unique dataset emphasize the importance of soil and topographic setting in determining depth and temporal patterns in VWC across time. Results emphasize the episodic nature of deep wetting events in our study system-essentially limited to three large events over the 27-yr record driven primarily by wetter than normal winters. Comparison of soil water dynamics between mesquite shrub coppice dunes and interspace soils suggests the "island of fertility" concept does not extend to soil water. Median VWC was strongly coupled to climatic conditions over surprisingly long windows at most locations (6-18 months), suggesting that soil water at depth is decoupled from short climatic pulses. However, VWC dynamics and VWC-climate relationships varied among locations, depths, and seasons, with unexpected similarities in ecohydrologic dynamics observed among very different vegetation types (e.g., an eroded creosote shrubland and a playa grassland). These results further underscore the importance of ecohydrological investigations in these ecosystems, given forecasts for a warmer and more variable climate in deserts globally.

show abstract

“…In arid and semiarid rangelands, there may be thresholds in plant patch organization below which positive feedbacks between plant patches, resource acquisition, and plant survival and reproduction break down, resulting in a persistent low-productivity/high bare ground state (Kéfi et al 2011). In other words, if larger plant patches become fragmented too much, the plants occupying those patches suffer due to increased soil erosion and decreased resource availability (Svejcar et al 2015). State transitions associated with soil degradation are often called "desertification.…”

Section: State Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

State and Transition Models: Theory, Applications, and Challenges

Bestelmeyer

Ash

Brown

et al. 2017

Springer Series on Environmental Management

Self Cite

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

State and transition models (STMs) are used to organize and communicate information regarding ecosystem change, especially the implications for management. The fundamental premise that rangelands can exhibit multiple states is now widely accepted and has deeply pervaded management thinking, even in the absence of formal STM development. The current application of STMs for management, however, has been limited by both the science and the ability of institutions to develop and use STMs. In this chapter, we provide a comprehensive and contemporary overview of STM concepts and applications at a global level. We first review the ecological concepts underlying STMs with the goal of bridging STMs to recent theoretical developments in ecology. We then provide a synthesis of the history of

show abstract

Scale-Dependent Feedbacks Between Patch Size and Plant Reproduction in Desert Grassland

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

Small‐scale barriers mitigate desertification processes and enhance plant recruitment in a degraded semiarid grassland

Small‐scale barriers mitigate desertification processes and enhance plant recruitment in a degraded semiarid grassland

Soil water dynamics at 15 locations distributed across a desert landscape: insights from a 27‐yr dataset

State and Transition Models: Theory, Applications, and Challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About