ARS | Publication request: MESQUITE RECRUITMENT: HISTORIC PATTERNS WITH LONG-TERM IMPACTS

Submitted to: Chihuahuan Desert Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 1, 2004
Publication Date: October 15, 2004
Citation: Fredrickson, E.L., Abbott, L.B., Anderson, D.M., Estell, R.E. 2004. Mesquite recruitment: historic patterns with long-term impacts [abstract]. Sixth Symposium on the Natural Resources of the Chihuahuan Desert Region, October 14-17, 2004, Alpine, Texas. p. 24.

Technical Abstract: Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torrey) has increased in dominance over large areas of the Chihuahuan Desert, chiefly at the expense of once expansive desert grasslands. Excessive grazing and seed dissemination by livestock are often attributed as the cause of this transition. We propose an alternate hypothesis that expansion of mesquite is not due to simple cause and effect relationships, but rather a network of cause and effect relationships. We assert that mesquite expansion may have occurred even in the absence of the widespread livestock grazing occurring during the last 130 years. We then look at factors that attenuate or intensify mesquite expansion and how a series of small-scale but temporally seminal events propagate across multiple scales. Lastly, we examine how acceptance of this hypothesis, or its parts, might be useful in enhancing 21st century efforts focused on remediation of desert grasslands.