Summary: Ecological Applications, 17(7), 2007, pp. 1911­1928
Ó 2007 by the Ecological Society of America
CLIMATIC/EDAPHIC CONTROLS ON SOIL CARBON/NITROGEN
RESPONSE TO SHRUB ENCROACHMENT IN DESERT GRASSLAND
C. WINSTON WHEELER,1,2
STEVEN R. ARCHER,3,4
GREGORY P. ASNER,1
AND CHAD R. MCMURTRY
3
1
Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, California 94305 USA
2
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, California 94305 USA
3
School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, 325 Biological Sciences East, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Abstract. The proliferation of woody plants in grasslands over the past 100þ years can
alter carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles and influence land surface­atmosphere interactions.
Although the majority of organic carbon in these ecosystems resides belowground, there is no
consensus on how this change in land cover has affected soil organic carbon (SOC) and total
nitrogen (TN) pools. The degree to which duration of woody plant occupation, climate, and

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

Collections: Environmental Sciences and Ecology