Vegetation Dynamics on the Mountains and Plateaus of the American Southwest [Hardcover]

The book provides information essential for anyone interested in the ecology of the American Southwest, including land managers, environmental planners, conservationists, ecologists and students. It is unique in its coverage of the hows and whys of dynamics (changes) in the major types of vegetation occurring on southwestern mountains and plateaus. It explains the drivers and processes of change, describes historical changes and provides conceptual models that diagrammatically illustrate past, present, and potential future changes. All major types of vegetation are covered: spruce-fir, mixed conifer, and ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper vegetation, subalpine-montane grassland, and Gambel oak and interior chaparral shrublands. The focus is on vegetation that is relatively undisturbed, i.e., in natural and near-natural condition, and how it responds to natural disturbances such as fire and drought, as well as to anthropogenic disturbances such as fire exclusion and invasive species

1. Introduction.- PART I Forests.- 2. Spruce-Fir Forest.- 3. Mixed Conifer Forest.- 4. Ponderosa Pine Forest.- PART II Woodland, Savanna, Grassland, and Shrublands.- 5. Pinyon-Juniper.- 6. Subalpine-Montane Grassland.- 7. Gambel Oak Shrubland.- 8. Interior Chaparral Shrubland.- Index.

John L. Vankat received an A.B. degree in biology from Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota and M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in botany from the University of California, Davis.? He taught and researched plant ecology in the Department of Botany, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio for thirty-one years.? Johns interest in education led to his textbook The Natural Vegetation of North America: An Introduction. ?He completed forty-nine masters and Ph.D. students, directing field research projects from California to Pennsylvania and from Alaska to Belize.? John helped organize and was elected the first person to chair the Vegetation Section of the Ecological Society of lcŠ