Sandy Loam Upland
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
Select a transition or restoration pathway
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No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Submodel
Description
As the State and Transition Model shows, in this state, the site is not expressing shortgrasses, midgrasses or tallgrasses in any great quantity even though remnants of all still remain. The site has basically evolved into a shrub,tree and forb site. Invaders such as eastern redcedar and mesquite have begun their invasion of the site at this stage, but actually, their invasion may have started at any time in the model. But now, because a invader density threshold has been crossed (subjective), it will take considerable outside energy input to reverse and drive the system back towards the reference state. If woody invaders (i.e. eastern redcedar)are over 6 feet tall, the site may require herbicide and/or mechanical brush control treatments coupled with prescribed burning to achieve control. These woody controls coupled with the employment of proper stocking rates are required to push the plant community back from a woody dominated state threshold towards the more grassy and grass-like reference state.
Description
Within this ecological state, the site has been cultivated and worked up for farming. The soil structure, soil health, hydrology, and plant community has been significantly altered.
Description
If the site is eroded to the point that it will never get back to something resembling one of the first state rangeland plant communities, short of hauling in topsoil, the site is something different than the original and will never function anything like the reference state. The soil resource is the primary limiting factor.
Model keys
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Ecological sites
Major Land Resource Areas
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.