Vegetation changes in the Jornada Basin from 1858 to 1998

Gibbens, Robert P.; McNeely, R.P.; Havstad, Kris M.; Beck, Reldon F.; Nolen, Barbara A.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2004.10.001

Cited by 237 publications

(287 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Because B. gracilis communities are resistant to invasion by L. tridentata, this shrub species has not expanded to dominate these landscapes under current conditions (Peters et al 2006a, b). However, changes in climate or land use that result in broad-scale B. gracilis mortality, and a subsequent shift in dominance to B. eriopoda or other perennial grasses, are expected to lead to broad-scale encroachment by L. tridentata, similar to broad-scale conversion throughout the Chihuahuan Desert over the past 150 years (Gibbens et al 2005). These transformations from grasslands to shrublands are part of the desertification process that includes increases in erosional losses of water, soil, and nutrients, and changes in plant and animal populations that feed back to maintain shrublands through time (Schlesinger et al 1990, Kieft et al 1998, Sanchez and Parmenter 2002, D'Odorico et al 2007, Kurc and Small 2007, Ravi et al 2010.…”

Section: Consequences Of Fine-scale Responses To Community and Landscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term experimental loss of foundation species: consequences for dynamics at ecotones across heterogeneous landscapes

Peters

Jin

2012

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Biome transition zones where species co-exist near their geographic limits are expected to be among the most responsive to changes in climate that result in mortality of foundation species. Long-term (.13 years) patterns in dominance and cover of functional types were examined following the annual experimental removal of one of three foundation species at an arid-semiarid biome transition zone. Objectives were to identify key processes influencing these patterns, and to predict future landscape-scale dynamics following mortality of different foundation species. Aboveground biomass of dominant species was removed from 3 3 4 m plots. Cover by species on control and removal plots was estimated annually in communities with a single dominant species, and in ecotonal communities with two dominant species across two types of ecotones (semiarid grassland-arid grassland, arid grassland-arid shrubland).For most species and functional types, trends in cover through time were related to the remaining species assemblages rather than to variable climatic conditions. In ecotonal communities, resident co-dominant species increased to dominance following the loss of a foundation species with little change in community composition. In mono-dominated communities, dominant species loss resulted in a shift to species that are currently sub-dominants of the same functional type as the species that was removed. Subdominant perennial grass and shrub species increased rapidly following removals in most grassland locations. Annuals and perennial forbs had variable cover values through time that were not clearly related to pulses in precipitation and were not synchronized across locations. The most common response regardless of the identity of the foundation species removed or the community type was an increase in cover by subdominant grasses and by the arid grass species (Bouteloua eriopoda). The rate of increase by B. eriopoda depended on initial cover, and resulted from both vegetative growth and seedling recruitment from other locations. Seed dispersal and seedling recruitment from other locations were not found for the semiarid grass, Bouteloua gracilis or the arid shrub, Larrea tridentata. Because B. eriopoda is more susceptible to shrub invasion, drought, and livestock grazing than the other two foundation species, widespread loss of either of the other species and subsequent increase in B. eriopoda is expected to result in an increase in landscapescale vulnerability to these environmental drivers. The extent and magnitude of this change in vulnerability will depend on the ability of B. eriopoda to respond based on the micro-environmental conditions of the site regardless of which species (B. gracilis, L. tridentata) is lost.

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Section: Consequences Of Fine-scale Responses To Community and Landscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term experimental loss of foundation species: consequences for dynamics at ecotones across heterogeneous landscapes

Peters

Jin

2012

Ecosphere

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“…Bush encroachment is identified by many researchers as an indicator of land degradation (Gibbens et al, 2005;Maestre et al, 2009;Van Auken, 2009). According to Eldridge et al (2011), 'encroachment' bears the same meaning with other terms such as woody thickening (Van Auken, 2000), regrowth (Eldridge et al, 2003), thicketization (Kerley et al, 1995;Lechmere-Oertel et al, 2005), woody weed invasion (Booth et al, 1996), xerification (Archer et al, 2001) and shrub invasion (Noble, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bush encroachment monitoring using multi-temporal Landsat data and random forests

Symeonakis

Higginbottom

2014

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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ABSTRACT:It is widely accepted that land degradation and desertification (LDD) are serious global threats to humans and the environment. Around a third of savannahs in Africa are affected by LDD processes that may lead to substantial declines in ecosystem functioning and services. Indirectly, LDD can be monitored using relevant indicators. The encroachment of woody plants into grasslands, and the subsequent conversion of savannahs and open woodlands into shrublands, has attracted a lot of attention over the last decades and has been identified as a potential indicator of LDD. Mapping bush encroachment over large areas can only effectively be done using Earth Observation (EO) data and techniques. However, the accurate assessment of large-scale savannah degradation through bush encroachment with satellite imagery remains a formidable task due to the fact that on the satellite data vegetation variability in response to highly variable rainfall patterns might obscure the underlying degradation processes.Here, we present a methodological framework for the monitoring of bush encroachment-related land degradation in a savannah environment in the Northwest Province of South Africa. We utilise multi-temporal Landsat TM and ETM+ (SLC-on) data from 1989 until 2009, mostly from the dry-season, and ancillary data in a GIS environment. We then use the machine learning classification approach of random forests to identify the extent of encroachment over the 20-year period. The results show that in the area of study, bush encroachment is as alarming as permanent vegetation loss. The classification of the year 2009 is validated yielding low commission and omission errors and high k-statistic values for the grasses and woody vegetation classes. Our approach is a step towards a rigorous and effective savannah degradation assessment.

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“…Monitoring LULC changes is essential for understanding vegetation dynamics and utilizations of natural resources in a sustainable manner (Gibbens et al, 2005). Such information is also very crucial to enhance the formulation of informed policies to support sustainable rangeland management and rehabilitation practices for increased natural resource protection, resilience of rangelands to changing climates and pastoral livelihoods (Zziwa et al, 2012).…”

Section: Author(s) Agree That This Article Remains Permanently Open Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use/cover change analysis and local community perception towards land cover change in the lowland of Bale rangelands, Southeast Ethiopia

Mussa¹,

Teka²,

Mesfin³

2017

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

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Changes in ecosystem functions can be analyzed through changes in land use land cover (LULC) systems. This study was carried out to analyze the LULC changes and perception of local community towards land cover change in the lowlands of Bale, Southeast Ethiopia using remote sensing data, field observations and perception of local people. The results showed that cultivated land, settlement, bush land and bare land expanded by 13.81, 14.30, 12.62 and 22.3% respectively, between 1986 and 2016, whereas wood land, grassland and shrubby grassland declined by 33.82, 24.4 and 3.36% respectively. Local communities' perceptions indicate that climatic, demographic and anthropogenic factors as well as implementation of inappropriate government policy and development interventions were major driving forces of LULC dynamics. Environmental and local livelihoods implications such as rangeland degradation, bush encroachment, soil degradation, livestock loss, biodiversity loss and poverty increase resulted from these changes. Cumulative effects contribute to rangeland degradation and poverty. Therefore, to halt the impact of LULC disturbance and its implication on the likelihood of the pastoralist, appropriate management measures and government policies have to be implemented.

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Vegetation changes in the Jornada Basin from 1858 to 1998

Cited by 237 publications

References 26 publications

Long‐term experimental loss of foundation species: consequences for dynamics at ecotones across heterogeneous landscapes

Long‐term experimental loss of foundation species: consequences for dynamics at ecotones across heterogeneous landscapes

Bush encroachment monitoring using multi-temporal Landsat data and random forests

Land use/cover change analysis and local community perception towards land cover change in the lowland of Bale rangelands, Southeast Ethiopia

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