@conference {50207,
	title = {Landscape histories, livestock management, and mesquite expansion in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico},
	booktitle = {Society for Range Management Annual Meeting},
	year = {2008},
	month = {January 26, 2008},
	pages = {2188},
	address = {Louisville, KY},
	abstract = {During the past 125 years the northern Chihuahuan Desert has undergone a significant shift from desert grasslands to desert shrub conditions, with mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) dramatically increasing in dominance during this period.  The transition from desert grasslands is viewed as deleterious, decreasing forage availability for both wildlife and livestock while negatively impacting air, water, and soil processes that support ecosystem services important to rapidly growing, human populations.  Causes leading to this transition include formulation of government and industry policies, and later application of some range management principles, without an understanding of the evolutionary and landscape history of the northern Chihuahuan Desert.  In addition, as causes of mesquite expansion were determined, primary factors leading to mesquite{\textquoteright}s eventual dominance did not receive adequate attention, most likely because they did not fit within dominant scientific paradigms, or social-political realities of the time.  Future work needs to focus on better understanding evolutionary and landscape legacies of this region; including factors that created and maintained the original desert grasslands prior to desert scrub conditions.  Using this understanding we must create appropriate theory that will guide future human-ecological interactions and assessment of ecological trajectories.  This knowledge must affect policy and eventual management. We must relax the need for ecosystems to adapt to human behaviors and consider how human behaviors can best adapt to the ecosystems on which they depend.},
	keywords = {Chihuahuan Desert},
	author = {E.L. Fredrickson and Jeffrey E. Herrick and H. Raul Peinetti and Andrea S. Laliberte}
}
@conference {50653,
	title = {Mesquite recruitment: historic patterns with long-term impacts},
	booktitle = {Sixth Symposium on the Natural Resources of the Chihuahuan Desert Region},
	year = {2004},
	month = {October 15, 2004},
	pages = {24},
	address = {Alpine, TX},
	abstract = {Mesquite (<i>Prosopis glandulosa</i> Torrey) has increased in dominance over large areas of the Chihuahuan Desert, chiefly at the expense of once expansive desert grasslands. Excessive grazing and seed dissemination by livestock are often attributed as the cause of this transition. We propose an alternate hypothesis that expansion of mesquite is not due to simple cause and effect relationships, but rather a network of cause and effect relationships. We assert that mesquite expansion may have occurred even in the absence of the widespread livestock grazing occurring during the last 130 years. We then look at factors that attenuate or intensify mesquite expansion and how a series of small-scale but temporally seminal events propagate across multiple scales. Lastly, we examine how acceptance of this hypothesis, or its parts, might be useful in enhancing 21st century efforts focused on remediation of desert grasslands.},
	keywords = {Chihuahuan Desert, excessive grazing, long-term impacts, mesquite, patterns, seed dissemination, small-scale events},
	author = {E.L. Fredrickson and Laurie Abbott and D.M. Anderson and Richard E. Estell}
}
@article {51216,
	title = {Perspectives on desertification: Southwestern United States},
	journal = {Journal of Arid Environments},
	volume = {39},
	year = {1998},
	month = {1998},
	pages = {191-207},
	abstract = {<p>Several climatic changes occurred in the northern Chihuahuan Desert and other parts of the southwest United States during the last 12,000 years leading to a markedly warmer and drier climate.\&nbsp; Vegetation changed in response to this climatic shift. Generally, this transition was from coniferous woodland to grasslands and eventually to the present day desert scrub.\&nbsp; Pre-Columbian inhabitants of this region adapted by changing from hunter-gatherer to primarily agrarian economics.\&nbsp; European immigrations into the southwest U.S. beginning in the mid 1500s greatly affected this region.\&nbsp; The greatest impact occurred after the U.S. Civil war in the 1860s.\&nbsp; Before that time land use tended to be localized near small agricultural areas, mines, and military installations.\&nbsp; The post-war range livestock industry expanded dramatically, especially during the 1880s {\textendash} a period of general abuse of arid lands in the region.\&nbsp; Recognition of this abuse and the deteriorating productivity of the land led to greater government involvement, including establishment of experimental stations and eventually management of the public domain by governmental agencies.\&nbsp; Fire suppression, mismanaged grazing, changing climatic conditions, loss of soil and increasing atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels, are among the probable causes of continued desertification trends\&nbsp;\&nbsp; Urban and rural populations, presently technologically isolated from their environment, need to better understand the dynamic nature of their environment.\&nbsp; A greater degree of co-operation among diverse entities will be crucial.</p>
},
	keywords = {Chihuahuan Desert, desertification, Sonoran Desert, south-west United States},
	doi = {10.1006/jare.1998.0390},
	url = {/files/bibliography/613.pdf},
	author = {E.L. Fredrickson and Kris Havstad and Richard E. Estell and P.W. Hyder}
}
