Change in the vegetation mosaic of central Arizona USA between 1940 and 1989

• Published in: Plant ecology Vol. 144; no. 1; pp. 83 - 91
• Main Authors: Huebner, C.D, Vankat, J.L, Renwick, W.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Kluwer Publishers 01-09-1999; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerial photography; Chaparral; disturbed soils; fires; Forest ecology; Forest service; Grasses; Grasslands; grazing; history; land clearance; Land use; Landscape ecology; Landscapes; Livestock; Plant ecology; prediction; spatial distribution; USA, Arizona; Vegetation; Woodland grasslands; Woodlands; Woody plants; Arizona
• ISSN: 1385-0237; 1573-5052
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1009892126986

The landscape of central Arizona U.S.A. is characterized by a patchy distribution of three major vegetation types: chaparral, woodland and grassland. Disturbance is common in the landscape, primarily livestock grazing, fire and conversion (i.e., removal of woody plants to increase forage for livestock). The purposes of this research were to determine chances in the landscape mosaic of central Arizona between 1940 and 1989 and to predict future changes. Using aerial photographs from 1940, 1968 and 1989 and digital overlays followed by transition matrix analysis, we found that chaparral and its adjacent grassland had changed less than woodland and its grassland. However, both had nearly equal projected stabilization times. Moreover, disturbance increased time for stabilization and some results were scale-dependent.