ARS | Publication request: The Janos grassland ecosystem: 20 years of synthesis and experimental research revealing new insights for conservation and management

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 1, 2009
Publication Date: October 5, 2009
Citation: Davidson, A.D., Brantley, S.L., Brown, J.H., Cruzado, J., Fredrickson, E.L., Lightfoot, D.C., List, R., Manzano-Fischer, P., Ponce, E., Pacheco, J., Santos, G., Sierra, R., Ceballos, G. 2009. The Janos grassland ecosystem: 20 years of synthesis and experimental research revealing new insights for conservation and management [abstract]. Abstracts of 10th Biennial Integrating Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau, October 5-8, 2009, Flagstaff, Arizona. p. 52.

Technical Abstract: Janos grasslands are part of the Sky Islands, a unique region of more than 40 isolated mountain ridges surrounded by dry grasslands that straddles the México/Arizona/New Mexico border. It is one of America’s great hotspots for wildlife diversity. It is a transition zone between the Chihuahuan Desert-Sonoran Desert and the Sierra Madre Occidental-Rocky Mountains, with a high level of endemism, protected plants and animals. Ecosystems still exists in the Janos grassland that were extirpated from the U.S. portion of the border region during the 19th and 20th Century. Understanding these systems may provide information regarding their evolution, and therefore provide strategies for remediation of now degraded landscapes in the U. S. and Mexico. Another remarkable value about Janos region is the people. Along with the Tucson area, it is one the first sites know where sedentary agriculture began in the region approximately 3,500 years BP. With a population of 6103 Mestizos and 2108 Menonites, the region’s rich heritage also provides insights into cost effective remediation strategies benefiting the larger region.