Landscape Ecology - Eric B. Peterson <link rel="stylesheet" href="../styles.css" /> </head> <body> <table width="98%"> <tr> <td class="TitleSide"></td> <td class="TitleMain"> <br /> <p class="title">Landscape Ecology - Eric B. Peterson</p> <br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="MainSide"></td> <td class="MainMain"> <p class="PageDescription"><u>Abstract of oral or poster presentation:</u></p> <p class="AbstractTitle">Biological soil crusts and the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum - a case of mutual exclusion.</p> <p class="AbstractAuthor">Peterson, Eric B.<br>Nevada Natural Heritage Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 901 South Stewart Street, suite 5002, Carson City, NV 89701-5245, USA. </p> <p class="AbstractText">The intermountain west is characterized by high deserts dominated by shrublands, especially sagebrushes (<i>Artemisia</i> spp.). Biological soil crusts are thought to have been a keystone component of these arid ecosystems, performing ecosystem services related to erosion and soil hydrology. Land use has removed biological soil crusts from much of their presumed historic extent. Native annual grasses were a minor component of the vegetation; however, several exotic annual grasses have proliferated in recent decades. These grasses produce fine fuels in shrub interspaces, increasing the susceptibility of vegetation to wildfire. These grasses also quickly reinvade burned areas, often to the exclusion of native species, thus creating a positive feedback mechanism that enables them to convert shrubland ecosystems to annual grasslands on a landscape scale. During data collection for mapping annual grasses (primarily <i>Bromus tectorum</i>) with satellite imagery, groundcover of biological soil crusts was measured as well. These data do not show a mere negative correlation between cover of <i>B. tectorum</i> and biological soil crusts. Rather, they show a strong mutual exclusion between these vegetation components.</p> <p class="AbstractMeeting">SUBMITTED for presentation at the 2007 meeting of the <a href="http://www.abls.org">American Bryological and Lichenological Society</a></p> <br /> <font size="-1"><a href="http://www.landscapeecology.com">HOME</a> : <a href="http://www.landscapeecology.com/Info/">Info</a></font> <br /> <br /> </td> </tr> </table> <hr width="97%" /> <font="-1"><a href="http://www.landscapeecology.com">LandscapeEcology.com</a> - contact the webmaster, Eric Peterson, <a href="http://non-parametric.com/contact.php?return=http://www.landscapeecology.com">here</a>. </body> </html>