Late Holocene vegetation and historic grazing impacts at Capital Reef National Park reconstructed using fossil packrat middens
- Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States)
Late Holocene vegetation change from a high desert site in southern Utah was reconstructed using fossil plant macrofossils and pollen from packrat middens. Presettlement middens consistently contained abundant macrofossils of plant species palatable to livestock that are now absent or reduced such as: Ceratoides lanata, Stipa hymenoides, Pinus edulis, and Artemisia spp.. In contrast, species typical of overgrazed range, such as: Chrysothamnus visidiflorus, Sarcobatus vermiculatus, and Gutterezia sarothrae, are now more abundant than prior to the historic introduction of grazing animals. Similar changes are evident in the fossil pollen from the packrat middens. Pine and sagebrush pollen is now far lower than prior to settlement, while Salsola sp. is first recorded following settlement. Ordination of the plant records using Detrended Correspondence Analysis demonstrates that the modem assemblages are substantially different from the presettlement assemblages and that the rates of vegetation change accompanying settlement are far greater than any recorded during the previous 5000 years. These results suggest that the plant communities and rates of vegetation change observed during this century are unlike previous natural communities and rates of vegetation change.
- OSTI ID:
- 95767
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9507129--
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Journal Name: Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 76; ISSN BECLAG; ISSN 0012-9623
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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