Molly Reichenborn Aided by a host of factors including extensive livestock grazing and drought, woody species such as Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.) have progressively encroached into historically grass-dominated ecosystems in the southwestern United States. This transition from grassland to shrubland causes concomitant reduction in native grass and forb species, increased soil erosion and redistribution […]

Kieran Andreoni Grassland-to-shrubland state transitions can impose inconsistent but often significant effects on ecosystem services and biodiversity of drylands.  Mammalian herbivores can play an important role in determining such states because they connect higher a (i.e., predator) and lower (i.e., plant) trophic communities.  Cattle, rodents, and lagomorphs have been shown to often contribute to such

Eli R. Perez-Ruiz, Enrique R. Vivoni and Osvaldo E. Sala Arizona State University Though dryland ecosystems have a fundamental role influencing the global carbon cycle, the seasonal variability of their water and carbon dynamics is not well understood. In this study, we analyze a long-term micrometeorological flux record (2011-2019) in a mixed shrubland of the

Zachary T. Keller and Enrique R. Vivoni Arizona State University Populations residing in arid regions depend heavily on limited amounts of groundwater that is often extracted at rates exceeding natural recharge. Arid aquifers are recharged primarily during flooding events that inundate channels and other permeable landscape features. In the southwestern United States, floods often occur

Ryan Schroeder Soil seed banks – living seeds in the soil profile and on the soil surface – represent primary sources of regenerative potential and buffering capacity in dryland ecosystems. A recent study by Ma et al. (2021) presented the first conceptual framework that describes soil seed bank dynamics during state transitions from primary states,