John W. Steiger

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We studied shrub communities in the Panamint Mountains of the Mojave Desert to determine whether vegetational changes after disturbance can be characterized as "succession" according to modern successional theory. We found, on a variety of disturbed and undisturbed sites, that the rate of change was a function of the type and age of disturbance.

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The response of desert plant assemblages to disturbance was studied in Death Valley National Monument, California. Plant assemblages on debris flows, alluvial terraces, five abandoned townsites, and a pipeline corridor were measured to quantify recovery rates and to develop a model of change in desert vegetation.

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Amanda Oliver
amanda.oliver@usda.gov

Apache Leap Special Management Area
Apache Leap SMA website