Life Sciences Commons^™

Prosopis Glandulosa Persistence Is Facilitated By Differential Protection Of Buds During Low- And High-Energy Fires, Heath D. Starns, Carissa L. Wonkka, Matthew B. Dickinson, Alexandra G. Lodge, Morgan L. Treadwell, Kathleen L. Kavanagh, Douglas R. Tolleson, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr, William E. Rogers

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Rangelands worldwide have experienced significant shifts from grass-dominated to woody-plant dominated states over the past century. In North America, these shifts are largely driven by overgrazing and landscape-scale fire suppression. Such shifts reduce productivity for livestock, can have broad-scale impacts to biodiversity, and are often difficult to reverse. Restoring grass dominance often involves restoring fire as an ecological process. However, many resprouting woody plants persist following disturbance, including fire, by resprouting from protected buds, rendering fire ineffective for reducing resprouting woody plant density. Recent research has shown that extreme fire (high-energy fires during periods of water stress) may reduce resprouting …

Vegetation Trend In The Fitzroy Region. An Analysis Of 1995 And 1998 Ground Monitoring Data., Noelene Duckett, Paul Novelly, Ian Watson, National Landcare Program (Australia), Csiro

Research Reports

This document summarises the analyses carried out on the ground monitoring data from the Kimberley region of Western Australia as part of the Natural Heritage Trust project 953024 - ‘'Development of Information Products for Reporting Rangeland Changes.”

This project has been investigating ways of integrating rangeland trend information collated from Landsat satellite data and site-specific ground vegetation data. This has been carried out by extending and refining previous approaches developed by Agriculture Western Australia and CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences (e.g. Wallace et al. 1994). The principal objective of the project is to develop useful information products which …

Riparian Plant Water Relations Along The North Fork Of The Kings River, California, J. L. Nachlinger, S. D. Smith, R. J. Risser

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Plant water relations of five obligate ripar-ian species were studied along California's North Fork Kings River. Diurnal stomatal conductance, transpi-ration, and xylem pressure potentials were measured throughout the 1986 growing season and in mid-season in 1987. Patterns were similar for all species although absolute values varied considerably. Maximum stomatal conductance occurred early in the day and season during favorable environmental conditions and decreased as air temperature and the vapor pressure difference between the leaf and air increased. Maximum transpiration rates occurred in mid-morning and mid-summer resulting in estimated daily water losses per unit sunlit leaf area of 163-328 mol H2O …

Water Relations Of Obligate Riparian Plants As A Function Of Streamflow Diversion On The Bishop Creek Watershed, S. D. Smith, J. L. Nachlinger, A. B. Wellington, C. A. Fox

Life Sciences Faculty Research

We investigated the water relations of obli-gate riparian plants on paired diverted and undiverted reaches on Bishop Creek, Eastern Sierra Nevada. Ri-parian plants on diverted reaches had reduced stomatal conductance and water potential compared to plants on undiverted reaches in a dry year, but not in a high runoff year. Juvenile plants on diverted reaches had reduced stomatal conductance and lower midday water potentials relative to surrounding mature trees, a trend that was not observed on undiverted reaches. Plants on diverted reaches possessed significantly smaller, thicker leaves and a reduced total leaf area relative to trees on streamside reaches. Reduced …