Species and community response to above normal precipitation following prolonged drought in the northern Mojave Desert
- Nevada Univ., Reno, NV (United States). Desert Research Inst.
- EG and G Energy Measurements, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Little information is available on how desert plant communities that are dominated by perennial species respond to normal and above normal precipitation following prolonged drought. Intuitively, one would expect total canopy cover to increase. Whether a concomitant increase in the density of perennial species also occurs is unknown. Even less is known about how individual species respond to above normal precipitation following drought. From 1987 through 1991 a prolonged drought occurred in much of the western United States, including the northern Mojave Desert. In March 1991 the northern Mojave Desert received well above normal precipitation. The following two winters (December--March) also had above normal precipitation (150 to 200 % of normal, unpublished data). Ongoing vegetation characterization studies by the US Department of Energy (DOE) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, allowed EG&G Energy Measurements to collect data that could be used to infer how both vegetation associations and individual species respond to above normal precipitation following prolonged drought. This paper reports the preliminary results.
- Research Organization:
- EG and G Energy Measurements, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC08-93NV11265
- OSTI ID:
- 145215
- Report Number(s):
- EGG-11265-2036; CONF-9310276-7; ON: DE94013571
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 8. wildland shrub and arid land restoration symposium, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 19-21 Oct 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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