Title | Fire effects on vegetation of a northern Chihuahuan Desert grassland |
Publication Type | Thesis |
Year of Publication | 1988 |
Authors | Cornelius JM |
Number of Pages | 170 |
Date Published | 1988 |
University | New Mexico State University |
City | Las Cruces, New Mexico |
Thesis Type | Ph.D. Dissertationpp |
Accession Number | JRN00080 |
Call Number | 00037 |
Keywords | Bouteloua,fire, dissertation, dissertations, fire,grassland, grassland,fire, theses, thesis |
Abstract | It has been hypthesized that fire was important in maintenance of southwestern US grasslands, and that decreased fire frequency and intensity caused by lower fuel levels from livestock grazing may be one cause of desertification of these desert grasslands. This research examines fire effects in a black gramma (Bouteloua eriopoda) grassland, and assesses the potential historical role that fire may have had in these grasslands.... The results suggest that fire was not important in maintenance of black gramma Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. Instead a widespread, intense fire would likely have been a severe disturbance that could have caused decreased abundance of grasses and increased abundance of shrubs, thus possibly enhancing desertification rather than preventing it. |