ecosystem services to and from north american arid ... - Conabio
ecosystem services to and from north american arid ... - Conabio
ecosystem services to and from north american arid ... - Conabio
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IV SIMPOSIO INTERNACIONAL DE PASTIZALES<br />
San Luis Po<strong>to</strong>sí, S.L.P. México 22 al 24 de agos<strong>to</strong> de 2007<br />
Conferencias Magistrales<br />
MAINTAINING AND RESTORING SEMI-ARID GRASSLAND<br />
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION<br />
Jayne Belnap<br />
U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center<br />
2290 Resource Blvd. Moab, UT.<br />
jayne_belnap@usgs.gov<br />
Maintaining the structure <strong>and</strong> function of <strong>ecosystem</strong>s is an essential part of sustainable<br />
management of these systems. In the past 10 years, there has been much effort put in<strong>to</strong><br />
underst<strong>and</strong>ing the relationship between <strong>ecosystem</strong> structure <strong>and</strong> function, <strong>and</strong> in<br />
identifying which structural elements of <strong>arid</strong>l<strong>and</strong> grassl<strong>and</strong>s are essential for maintaining<br />
<strong>ecosystem</strong> function. Plant community structure can be described by fac<strong>to</strong>rs such as plant<br />
species composition, cover, height, shape, <strong>and</strong> placement relative <strong>to</strong> other plants <strong>and</strong><br />
l<strong>and</strong>scape features (e.g., washes, slope position). The type <strong>and</strong> distribution of ground<br />
cover (e.g., plant litter, rocks, physical <strong>and</strong> biological soil crusts, bare ground) beneath <strong>and</strong><br />
between the plants is also important in describing <strong>ecosystem</strong> structure. Soil structure is<br />
another aspect of <strong>ecosystem</strong> structure that affects <strong>ecosystem</strong> function <strong>and</strong> includes<br />
features such as bulk density/porosity, soil surface roughness, <strong>and</strong> aggregate stability. In<br />
this talk, I will discuss each of these structural features <strong>and</strong> how they affect <strong>ecosystem</strong><br />
function. I will then discuss techniques for res<strong>to</strong>ring critical aspects of grassl<strong>and</strong><br />
community structure where they have been degraded. These techniques include plantings<br />
in of specific plants in specific places, artificial structures that can hasten recovery, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
res<strong>to</strong>ration of biological soil crusts. I will also discuss how each of these techniques will<br />
affect <strong>ecosystem</strong> function.<br />
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