Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
Select a transition or restoration pathway
- Transition 1 More details
- Transition 2 More details
- Restoration pathway 1 More details
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No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
State 1 represents the historic range of variability for this ecological site. This state no longer exists due to the ubiquitous naturalization of non-native species in the Mojave Desert. Periodic drought and rare fire were the natural disturbances influencing this ecological site. Fire would have been a very rare occurrence due to the lack of a continuous fine fuel layer between shrubs.
Data for this State does not exist, but dynamics and composition would have been similar to State 2, except with only native species present. See State 2 narrative for more detailed information.
Submodel
Description
State 2 represents the current range of variability for this site. Non-native annuals, including Mediterranean grass, red-stem stork’s bill, and Asian mustard are naturalized in this plant community. Their abundance varies with precipitation, but they are at least sparsely present (as current year’s growth or present in the soil seedbank).
Submodel
Description
This state develops when the fire return interval is less than 20 years, or the fire regeneration community in state 2 is affected by extreme drought or other disturbance (such as off-road vehicle use). This state has been significantly altered from the natural range of variability found in States 1 and 2. Creosote bush is lost, and non-native annual grasses and forbs dominate the community.
This state is at high-risk of repeat burning due to high fine fuel cover. This community is also susceptible to wind and water erosion, due to the loss of shrub cover (Bull 1997). This can lead to arroyo development near ephemeral drainage channels. Furthermore, the loss of vegetation structure present in the historic and reference state decreases the suitability of this habitat for wildlife (Brooks et al. 2007, Vamstad 2009). Since rodent seed caching is important for the dispersal and establishment of many desert species this can further inhibit recovery.
Submodel
Mechanism
This transition occurred with the naturalization of non-native species in this ecological site. Non-native species were introduced with settlement of the Mojave Desert region in the 1860s. Post-settlement cattle and sheep grazing, as well as dryland farming, helped to spread and facilitate their establishment (Brooks and Pyke 2000, Brooks et al. 2007). Non-natives can alter disturbance regimes significantly from their natural or historic range and change ecological processes therefore creating an unlikely scenario to restore the site back to reference.
Mechanism
This transition occurs when the fire return interval is less than 20 years, or when extreme drought or additional disturbance affect the fire regeneration community.
Mechanism
Restoration of communities severely altered by repeat fire at the landscape scale is difficult. Methods may include aerial seeding of early native colonizers such as desert globemallow, burrobrush, threeawns (Aristida spp.), and desert marigold. Increased native cover may help to reduce non-native plant invasion, helps to stabilize soils, provides a source of food and cover for wildlife, including desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), and provides microsites that facilitate creosote bush establishment. However, the amount of seed required for success is often prohibitive. Large-scale planting of both early colonizers and community dominants tends to be more successful in terms of plant survival, especially if outplants receive supplemental watering during the first two years. Creosote bush can be successfully propagated and outplanted. Pre-emergent herbicides (Plateau) have been used in the year immediately post-fire to attempt to inhibit or reduce brome invasion. How successful this is on a landscape scale, and the non-target effects have not yet been determined.
Model keys
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Ecological sites
Major Land Resource Areas
The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool is an information system framework developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and New Mexico State University.
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