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Author: Geoffrey Peter Chapman
Publisher: Academic Press
Published: 1992
Total Pages: 394
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA treatment of desertified grasslands that deals with botanical assets and ecological liabilities, evolving management strategies and physiological and genetic studies.
Author: Mitchel P. McClaran
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 2023-05-23
Total Pages: 359
ISBN-13: 0816553203
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe mixed grass and shrub vegetation known to scientists as desert grassland is common to the basins and valleys that skirt the mountain ranges throughout southwestern North America, extending from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas down through thirteen Mexican states. This variegated ground cover is crucial to life in an arid environment. The Desert Grassland offers the most comprehensive study to date of these flora and the rich biotic communities they support. Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice-age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland. They also document how the influence of humans—from Amerindians to contemporary ranchers, public land managers, and real estate developers—has changed the relative abundance of woody and herbaceous species and how the introduction of new plants and domesticated animals to the area has also affected biodiversity. The book concludes with a review of the attempts, both failed and successful, to reestablish plants in desert grasslands affected by overgrazing, drought, and farm abandonment. Meticulously researched and copiously illustrated, The Desert Grassland is a major contribution to ecological literature. For advanced lay readers as well as students and scholars of history, geography, and ecology, it will be a standard reference work for years to come.
Author: Stephen Reynolds
Publisher: CRC Press
Published: 2019-05-14
Total Pages: 556
ISBN-13: 1482280272
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book looks at significant current grassland problems and issues, and provides an insight into grassland productivity in diverse areas of the world, with their various production systems. There is a focus on recent technical advances and the prospects for further innovation, through twenty-one chapters by eminent grassland scientists, grouped i
Author: Olafur Arnalds
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2013-03-09
Total Pages: 234
ISBN-13: 9401596026
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDesertification has occurred worldwide. The biophysical and socio-economic complexity of this phenomenon has challenged our ability to categorize, inventory, monitor and repair the condition of degraded lands. One of the most important distinctions to be made in relation to land degradation is between cultivated land used for annual crop production and `rangelands'. Grazing by free-roaming livestock is the traditional primary use of the world's rangelands. However, there is growing recognition of the importance of these vast acreages for wildlife habitat, hydrology and ground water recharge, recreation and aesthetics. This text focuses on the desertification of rangelands and explores processes, problems and solutions. Chapters in the first section evaluate interactions between `natural' and human-induced disturbance regimes, thresholds, and non-linear change with respect to vegetation, hydrology, nutrients and erosion. Chapters in the second section examine socio-economic constraints and approaches for preventing and reversing degradation. The book provides a contemporary, process-oriented perspective on rangeland degradation of value to students, policy-makers and professionals alike.
Author: Thomas B. Wilson
Publisher:
Published: 2001
Total Pages: 108
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDuring the last 150 years, two species of mesquite trees in the Southwestern United States have become increasingly common in what formerly was desert grassland. These trees have spread from nearby watercourses onto relatively xeric upland areas, decreasing rangeland grass production. Management attempts to limit or reverse this spread have been largely unsuccessful. This paper reviews studies regarding mesquite natural history and management strategies, emphasizing studies published during the past decade. Mesquite possess a deep root system and are capable of fixing atmospheric N, rendering them capable of accessing resources unavailable to other plants in open rangeland. Their seeds, which remain viable for decades, have a hard exocarp and require scarification before germination. Consumption by cattle provides a means of scarification and seed dispersal, and is a major factor contributing to the spread of mesquite in open rangelands. Increases in atmospheric CO2 and winter precipitation during the past century also contribute to enhanced seed germination. Removal techniques have included herbicides, prescribed burning, grazing reduction, and mechanical removal. For increased effectiveness of these techniques, management goals must be clearly articulated; these goals include complete removal, no removal, and limited removal. Of these, limited removal appears the most feasible, using an initial herbicide application followed by periodic prescribed burning.
Author: Mitchel P. McClaran
Publisher:
Published: 1995-11
Total Pages: 372
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished, and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland.
Author: Barbara Tellman
Publisher:
Published: 1998
Total Pages: 404
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis conference was designed to provide a non-confrontational setting for a variety of people from differing viewpoints to discuss the threats facing arid grasslands of the Southwest. Participants included ranchers and other private economists, scientists, and students. The sessions were organized around the major themes of understanding grasslands, identifying grassland issues, managing grasslands, and seeking solutions to grassland issues. Many of the sessions were in the form of panel discussions or informal presentations.
Author: Kris M. Havstad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2006-07-20
Total Pages: 482
ISBN-13: 0195344278
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Jornada Basin LTER is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest in North America. This region of south central New Mexico has a history of nearly 100 years as the basis for scientific research. This work gives a thorough, encompassing review of the tremendous array of observations resulting from experiments conducted in this ecosystem. Beginning with thorough descriptions of the most salient features of the region, the book then reviews a wide range of archived and active data sets on a diversity of biotic and abiotic features. It next presents a syntheses of important topics including livestock grazing and remediation efforts. A concluding chapter provides a synthesis of the principles that have emerged from this body of work, and how these relate to the broader fields of ecology and natural resource management. It concludes with recommendations for future research directions. The insightful views expressed in this volume should guide management of arid landscapes globally. This is the sixth volume in the Long Term Ecological Network Series.
Author: Linghao Li
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2020-09-29
Total Pages: 593
ISBN-13: 9811534217
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book provides a comprehensive overview of grassland ecosystems based on publications by Chinese scholars. It offers an up-to-date review of the recent advances in grassland research in China, discusses the climatic and physical conditions governing the grasslands, describes their types and distribution, and introduces a new classification scheme for grassland ecosystems. Further, it details the plant, animal, and microbial compositions of each grassland ecosystem type, examining the above and below ground relationships between phytomass, vegetation succession, and past/current management practices with a particular focus on the steppes in China. It also includes references that are only available in the Chinese language. This scientifically rigorous book offers insights into knowledge gaps for the scientific community and identifies pressing issues facing practitioners of grassland ecology and management. It can be used as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, agriculture, and other relevant fields, and is also a valuable reference resource for researchers studying drylands in China or around the globe.
Author:
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Published: 2023-04-14
Total Pages: 187
ISBN-13: 2832520863
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