Summary: 1999
Ecology, 82(7), 2001, pp. 1999­2011
2001 by the Ecological Society of America
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CHANGES ACCOMPANYING WOODY PLANT
ENCROACHMENT IN A SUBTROPICAL SAVANNA
K. A. HIBBARD,1,4
S. ARCHER,1
D. S. SCHIMEL,2,5
AND D. W. VALENTINE3,6
1Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2126 USA
2Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado 80307 USA
3Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA
Abstract. Ecosystem properties of surficial (0­10 cm) soils in remnant herbaceous
patches were compared to those of contrasting woody plant patch types (upland discrete
cluster, upland grove, and lowland woodland) where shifting land cover is known to have
occurred over the past 50­77 yr. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and quantify
the biogeochemical consequences and subsequent developmental rates of woody plant for-
mation on sites formerly dominated by grasses.
Clay and water content of woodland soil patches was higher than that of soils associated
with upland discrete cluster and grove patches. Even so, lowland woody patches were

Source: Archer, Steven R. - Savanna/Woodland Ecology Lab., School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona

Collections: Environmental Sciences and Ecology