Resistance to invasion and resilience to fire in desert shrublands of North America
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Authors: M. L. Brooks, and J. C. Chambers
Date: 2011
Journal: Rangeland Ecology & Management
Volume: 64
Number: 5
Pages: 431-438
Summary of Methods: This is a literature review of 67 published scientific articles the concepts of plant invasion impacts on fire regimes in North American desert shrublands.
Article Summary / Main Points: A gradual increase of available resources and annual net primary productivity in desert ecosystems can improve ecological resilience to altered fire regimes. A highly productive and functionally diverse native plant community increases ecological regeneration following disturbance and a competitive advantage over invasive plants. Plant invasions that cause new fuel load conditions and altered fire regimes can result in a self-perpetuating invasive plant/fire cycle. The removal of herbaceous perennials in cold desert shrubland ecosystems coupled with altered fire regimes can cause a 10- to 30-fold increase in cheatgrass biomass and seed production. Hot desert shrublands located at mid- to low-elevations are significantly more susceptible to annual grass invasions, causing increased fuel continuity and low fire tolerance, thus decreasing recovery potential of native species. Maintaining and increasing ecological resilience prior to breeching ecological thresholds is the primary objective to managing invasive plants and fire regimes in desert shrublands.
Vegetation Types: Desert Shrublands
MLRA Ecoregions: Not Applicable
Agrovoc Control Words: Shrublands Weeds Fires
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Scientific Synthesis
Keywords: annual invasive grasses, chihuahuan desert, ecological resilience, ecological resistance, fire regimes, great basin desert, mojave desert, plant invasion, shrublands, sonoran desert
Annotation: This is a quality summary of the implications of invasive annual grasses influencing fire regimes in hot and cold desert shrublands that is very well drafted and easily comprehendible. The provided management strategies are primarily conceptual with very little specific detail covering the actual planning and implementing process. Several references are made towards conserving and restoring pre-settlement/historical ecosystem conditions while failing to recognize natural changes in ecological trajectory and evolving ecosystems throughout history.
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