High elevation scrub-sedge depressions
Scenario model
Current ecosystem state
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Management practices/drivers
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Transition T1a
Peat mound formation
More details -
No transition or restoration pathway between the selected states has been described
Target ecosystem state
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Description
The reference state supports one reference plant community which is characterized as a mixed shrub-sedge tussock tundra (Viereck et al., 1992).
Submodel
Description
The alternative peat mound state supports one dominant plant community, which is characterized as a shrub birch - ericaceous shrub bog (Viereck et al., 1992). This alternative state occurs as a result of ice-lensing and organic matter accumulation. This creates dome-like formations that create dry, micro-habitats where shrubby vegetation can establish. If enough organic material builds up, drainage can improve because the distance between the soil surface and the shallow water table increases.
Submodel
Mechanism
This transition occurs as ice lenses and organic matter accumulates, creating dome-like peat mounds. In order for this to occur, sufficient moisture must be present. These conditions occur in and adjacent to depressions where groundwater and throughflow supplies necessary moisture. Once mounds form, there is potential for drainage to improve, if mounds grow large enough to increase the distance between the water table and soil surface. In some cases, this can lead to melting of the ice lenses, and subsequent collapse of the peat mounds, creating a depression once more.
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.