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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #340426
Title: Abiotic processes are insufficient for fertile island development: A 10-year artificial shrub experiment in a desert grassland

Author
item LI, JUNRAN - University Of Tulsa
item GIHOOLY III, WILLIAM - Indiana University-Purdue University
item OKIN, GREGORY - University Of California
item BLACKWELL III, JOHN - University Of Tulsa

Submitted to: Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/17/2017
Publication Date: 3/1/2017
Citation: Li, J., Gihooly III W.P., Okin, G., Blackwell III, J. 2017. Abiotic processes are insufficient for fertile island development: A 10-year artificial shrub experiment in a desert grassland. Geophysical Research Letters. 44:2245-2253.

Interpretive Summary: Artificial shrubs were used to study the relative importance of biotic and abiotic processes in fertile island development No notable fertile islands were observed after 10 years. Aeolian processes are not efficient in fertile island development in the absence of biotic additions. The exclusion of direct biotic additions, soils captured by shrub canopies are not necessarily fertile and thus do not themselves contribute to the development of fertile islands.

Technical Abstract: The relative importance of biotic and abiotic processes in the development of “fertile islands” in dryland systems has rarely been investigated. Here we approached this question by using artificial shrubs, which exclude plant litter production and soil nutrient uptake, but retain the functions of trapping windblown material, funneling of stemflow, and differential rain splash. We conducted a vegetation manipulation study more than a decade ago in the desert grassland of southern New Mexico and subsequently revisited the site in 2012 and 2015. The results show that no notable soil mounds were observed under the artificial shrubs; however, soil texture under the artificial shrubs has gradually changed to resemble the patterns of soil particle-size distribution under natural shrubs. Our results highlight that with the exclusion of direct biotic additions, soils captured by shrub canopies are not necessarily fertile and thus do not themselves contribute to the development of fertile islands.