Saline Lowland
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
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- Transition T1A More details
- Transition T3A More details
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No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
This State represents what is believed to show the natural range of variability that dominates the dynamics of this ecological site prior to European settlement. The Reference State is dominated by cool-season grasses, while warm-season grasses are subdominant. The primary disturbance mechanisms for this site in the Reference condition included frequent fire and grazing by large herding ungulates. Timing of fires and grazing, coupled with weather events, dictated the dynamics that occurred within the natural range of variability. Today the primary disturbance is from a lack of fire and concentrated livestock grazing. Grasses that are desirable for livestock and wildlife can decline and a corresponding increase in less desirable grasses will occur.
Submodel
Description
This State is characterized by the dominance of the shorter-statured, more saline-tolerant species such as foxtail barley and inland saltgrass, the increase in bare ground, and the increased presence of salt accumulations on the soil surface. Infiltration is reduced, which allows the moisture and the salts carried by the moisture to be wicked up to the soil surface. The short-statured and shallow-rooted species are more capable of withstanding the higher concentrations of salts in the soil surface. As the disturbance level increases, plant density decreases even more, giving way to annual species and invasive perennial species, as well as a further increase in bare ground.
Submodel
Mechanism
T1A) Heavy, continuous season-long grazing (stocking levels well above recommended rates, for the entire growing season or for extended portions of the growing season without adequate recovery periods) will cause this site to cross a threshold leading to the Degraded State (2.0). Grazing pressure and physical impacts of livestock on the soil surface, including soil compaction, will alter the Reference Plant Communities. The less grazing-tolerant/more palatable plant species are reduced, while the grazing-tolerant species increase. Physical impacts result in increased bare ground which increases surface salinity and further enhances the salt-tolerant species. The physical impacts (i.e., compaction) are greater when the soil surface is wet from short-term flooding events.
Mechanism
Heavy disturbance such as concentrated livestock areas (e.g., watering sources, calving or feeding areas) or tillage and cropping abandonment will cause any plant community to shift to the Annual and Pioneer Perennial/Bare Ground Plant Community (2.2). Attempts to crop these areas often fail, resulting in bare ground and weedy species such as kochia.
Model keys
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The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool is an information system framework developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and New Mexico State University.