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Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences
Effectiveness Of Prescribed Fire To Re-Establish Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation And Ecohydrologic Function On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Reangelands, Great Basin, Usa: Part Ii: Runoff And Sediment Transport At The Patch Scale, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Mark A. Weltz, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan
Effectiveness Of Prescribed Fire To Re-Establish Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation And Ecohydrologic Function On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Reangelands, Great Basin, Usa: Part Ii: Runoff And Sediment Transport At The Patch Scale, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Mark A. Weltz, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan
Articles
Woody species encroachment into herbaceous and shrub-dominated vegetations is a concern in many rangeland ecosystems of the world. Arrival of woody species into affected rangelands leads to changes in the spatial structure of vegetation and alterations of biophysical processes. In the western USA, encroachment of pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) tree species into sagebrush steppes poses a threat to the proper ecohydrological functioning of these ecosystems. Prescribed fire has been proposed and used as one rangeland improvement practice to restore sagebrush steppe from pinyon-juniper encroachment. Short-term effects of burning on the ecohydrologic response of these systems …
Long-Term Evidence For Fire As An Ecohydrologic Threshold-Reversal Mechanism On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Shrublands, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Mark A. Weltz
Long-Term Evidence For Fire As An Ecohydrologic Threshold-Reversal Mechanism On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Shrublands, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Mark A. Weltz
Articles
Encroachment of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) shrublands by pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) conifers (woodland encroachment) induces a shift from biotic‐controlled resource retention to abiotic‐driven loss of soil resources. This shift is driven by a coarsening of the vegetation structure with increasing dominance of site resources by trees. Competition between the encroaching trees and understory vegetation for limited soil and water resources facilitates extensive bare intercanopy area between trees and concomitant increases in run‐off and erosion that, over time, propagate persistence of the shrubland‐to‐woodland conversion. We evaluated whether tree removal by burning can decrease late‐succession woodland …
Vegetation, Hydrologic, And Erosion Responses Of Sagebrush Steppe 9 Yr Following Mechanical Tree Removal, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Mark A. Weltz
Vegetation, Hydrologic, And Erosion Responses Of Sagebrush Steppe 9 Yr Following Mechanical Tree Removal, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Mark A. Weltz
Articles
Land managers across the western United States are faced with selecting and applying tree-removal treatments on pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodland-encroached sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) rangelands, but current understanding of long-term vegetation and hydrological responses of sagebrush sites to tree removal is inadequate for guiding management. This study applied a suite of vegetation and soil measures (0.5 − 990 m2), small-plot rainfall simulations (0.5 m2), and overland flow experiments (9 m2) to quantify the effects of mechanical tree removal (tree cutting and mastication) on vegetation, runoff, and erosion at …
Effectiveness Of Prescribed Fire To Re-Establish Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation And Ecohydrologic Function On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Rangelands, Great Basin, Usa: Part I: Vegetation, Hydrology, And Erosion Responses, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Patrick R. Kormos, Mark A. Weltz
Effectiveness Of Prescribed Fire To Re-Establish Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation And Ecohydrologic Function On Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Rangelands, Great Basin, Usa: Part I: Vegetation, Hydrology, And Erosion Responses, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Patrick R. Kormos, Mark A. Weltz
Articles
Pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodland encroachment has imperiled a broad ecological domain of the sagebrush steppe (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem in the Great Basin Region, USA. As these conifers increase in dominance on sagebrush rangelands, understory vegetation declines and ecohydrologic function can shift from biotic (vegetation) controlled retention of soil resources to abiotic (runoff) driven loss of soil resources and long-term site degradation. Scientists, public land management agencies, and private land owners are challenged with selecting and predicting outcomes to treatment alternatives to improve ecological structure and function on these rangelands. This study is the …
Hydrologic And Erosion Responses To Wildfire Along The Rangeland-Xeric Forest Continuum In The Western Us: A Review And Model Of Hydrologic Vulnerability, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Peter R. Robichaud, Jan Boll
Hydrologic And Erosion Responses To Wildfire Along The Rangeland-Xeric Forest Continuum In The Western Us: A Review And Model Of Hydrologic Vulnerability, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Peter R. Robichaud, Jan Boll
Articles
The recent increase in wildfire activity across the rangeland–xeric forest continuum in the western United States has landscape-scale consequences in terms of runoff and erosion. Concomitant cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasions, plant community transitions and a warming climate in recent decades along grassland–shrubland–woodland–xeric forest transitions have promoted frequent and large wildfires, and continuance of the trend appears likely if warming climate conditions prevail. These changes potentially increase overall hydrologic vulnerability by spatially and temporally increasing soil exposure to runoff and erosion processes. Plot and hillslope-scale studies demonstrate burning may increase event runoff or erosion by factors of 2–40 over …
Woodland Expansion's Influence On Belowground Carbon And Nitrogen In The Great Basin U.S., Benjamin M. Rau, Dale W. Johnson, Robert R. Blank, Robin J. Tausch, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Todd G. Caldwell, Annmarie Lucchesi
Woodland Expansion's Influence On Belowground Carbon And Nitrogen In The Great Basin U.S., Benjamin M. Rau, Dale W. Johnson, Robert R. Blank, Robin J. Tausch, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Todd G. Caldwell, Annmarie Lucchesi
Articles
Vegetation changes associated with climate shifts and anthropogenic disturbance can have major impacts on biogeochemical cycling and soils. Much of the Great Basin, U.S. is currently dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate (Rydb.) Boivin) ecosystems. Sagebrush ecosystems are increasingly influenced by pinyon (Pinus monophylla Torr. & Frém and Pinus edulis Engelm.) and juniper (Juniperus osteosperma Torr. and Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) expansion. Some scientists and policy makers believe that increasing woodland cover in the intermountain western U.S. offers the possibility of increased organic carbon (OC) storage on the landscape; however, little is currently known about the distribution of OC …