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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #118788

Title: SOIL SURFACE INDICATORS OF DESERTIFICATION FROM THE NORTHERN CHIHUAHUAN DESERT AND THE GREAT BASIN

Author
item DE SOYZA, A - NEW MEXICO STATE UNIV
item Whitford, Walter
item Van Zee, Justin
item Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff
item Havstad, Kris

Submitted to: International Rangeland Congress
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/19/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: DE SOYZA, A.G., WHITFORD, W.G., VAN ZEE, J.W., HERRICK, J.E., HAVSTAD, K.M. SOIL SURFACE INDICATORS OF DESERTIFICATION FROM THE NORTHERN CHIHUAHUAN DESERT AND THE GREAT BASIN. PROCEEDINGS OF THE VITH INTERNATIONAL RANGELAND CONGRESS. 2000. P. 137.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We measured vegetation canopy and litter cover in ungrazed exclosures and adjacent pastures at three locations in the Chihuahuan Desert, five locations near Burns, Oregon, seven locations near Milford, Utah, and six near Idaho Falls, Idaho, all of which are in the Great Basin. We found that vegetation cover is not a good surrogate for estimating litter cover. Refinements that take into account vegetation species composition may improve the ability to predict litter cover from vegetation data.