Woody Vegetation Expansion in a Desert Grassland: Prehistoric Human Impact?
Part of the Legacies on the Landscape project
Author(s): John Briggs; Hoski Schaafsma; Demitar Trenkov
Year: 2007
Summary
Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and savannas is a global phenomenon with undisputed environmental and economic consequences. In central Arizona, the location of our study, it is well known that mesquite, juniper, and cacti account for the majority of the woody plant expansion into arid grasslands. Using aerial photographs (1940 and 2001), we quantified an increase in woody vegetation in this area. We estimated that from 1940 to 2001, the amount of woody vegetation at our study site increased from 559.7 ha (6.1% of the area) to 1326.6 ha (14.4%); an increase of 766.9 ha (8.3%). A GIS model which included two soil types (Rock Land and Springerville (fine montmorillonitic, thermictypicchromusterts)) with an elevation range from 1142 to 1183 m and slopes from 01 to 61 is able to account for 30.3%(234 ha) of the increase in woody vegetation at our study site between 1940 to 2001. We also examined the locations of woody vegetation in relation to archaeological sites (pueblos with over 40 rooms) and determined that human activities roughly 600 year ago continue to impact the distribution of woody plants on the modern day landscape.
Cite this Record
Woody Vegetation Expansion in a Desert Grassland: Prehistoric Human Impact?. John Briggs, Hoski Schaafsma, Demitar Trenkov. Journal of Arid Environments. 69: 458-472. 2007 ( tDAR id: 406183) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8GF0WCS
Keywords
Culture
Ancestral Puebloan
•
Hohokam
•
Mogollon
•
Perry Mesa Tradition
Site Name
Perry Mesa
Site Type
Archaeological Feature
•
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
•
Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
•
Non-Domestic Structures
•
Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
•
Rock Art
•
Water-Related
Investigation Types
Architectural Survey
•
Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis
•
Systematic Survey
Geographic Keywords
Agua Fria National Monument
•
Perry Mesa
Temporal Keywords
Perry Mesa Tradition
•
Pueblo IV
Temporal Coverage
Calendar Date: 1200 to 1450
Spatial Coverage
min long: -112.162; min lat: 34.079 ; max long: -111.907; max lat: 34.296 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contributor(s): Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology
Landowner(s): Bureau of Land Management
File Information
| Name | Size | Creation Date | Date Uploaded | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Briggs-et-al-2007.pdf | 315.03kb | Jul 17, 2016 6:15:54 PM | Public |