Historical context and ecological impact of the 1950s drought in the American Southwest
- Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ (United States)
In the American Southwest, the 1950s drought caused massive vegetation dieoffs from the lowland deserts well into conifer woodlands of the uplands, resetting demographic clocks and creating disequilibria in carbon and nutrient cycling. Climate reconstructions from tree rings indicate up to 500-year return periods for droughts of similar magnitude. Broadscale mortality of long-lived conifers yielded >100 m elevational shifts in ecotonal boundaries that had been stable for at least 2500 years, according to a high-resolution packrat midden record. The drought also may have accelerated recent invasion of shurblands into grasslands, and the northward and upward expansion of xerophytes such as Larrea tridentata. Long-term monitoring efforts in the Southwest, particularly those contemplated or initiated only recently (e.g., 1988 on the Sevilleta LTER, New Mexico), should consider the imprint of the 1950s drought on present and future vegetation dynamics.
- OSTI ID:
- 6146272
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930798-; CODEN: BECLAG
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America; (United States), Vol. 74:2; Conference: 78. annual Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting, Madison, WI (United States), 31 Jul - 4 Aug 1993; ISSN 0012-9623
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CLIMATIC CHANGE
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
DROUGHTS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
ANNUAL VARIATIONS
CARBON CYCLE
CLIMATES
CONIFERS
DESERTS
FORESTS
MONITORING
RANGELANDS
TREE RINGS
USA
ARID LANDS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
NORTH AMERICA
PINOPHYTA
PLANTS
VARIATIONS
540110*
560400 - Other Environmental Pollutant Effects