Loamy Uplands
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
Select a state
Management practices/drivers
Select a transition or restoration pathway
-
Transition T1A
High frequency of fires
More details -
Restoration pathway R2A
Savanna restoration techniques using fire
More details -
No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
Select a state
Description
The reference state is a savanna. Savanna plant community is primarily a historic plant formation that was maintained in pre-European settlement time by wild fires and Native-American activities. Today, such communities exist only where special ecological restoration actions are being applied.
Submodel
Description
Almost a century of active fire suppression allowed oak savannas and “scrub oak” communities to develop into closed canopy forests. Based on the degree of successional development two community phases can be characterize.
Submodel
Mechanism
Fire frequency of one to ten years stimulates sprouting of small fire-killed oak stems and eliminates competition by other vegetation and especially the encroachment of other woody species.
Mechanism
Oak savannas, oak openings and grasslands are of concern to natural resource managers and conservationists. In special locations, various mechanical techniques and prescribed fire are applied to recreate and maintain a representation of these fire-dependent communities on the landscape.
Model keys
Briefcase
Add ecological sites and Major Land Resource Areas to your briefcase by clicking on the briefcase (
) 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.
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.