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.
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.
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
Briefcase
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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.
) icon wherever it occurs. Drag and drop items to reorder. Cookies are used to store briefcase items between browsing sessions. Because of this, the number of items that can be added to your briefcase is limited, and briefcase items added on one device and browser cannot be accessed from another device or browser. Users who do not wish to place cookies on their devices should not use the briefcase tool. Briefcase cookies serve no other purpose than described here and are deleted whenever browsing history is cleared.
