Mapping of Sonoran Desert Vegetation Communities and Spatial Distribution Differences of Larrea Tridentata Seed Density in Relat
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Mapping of Sonoran Desert Vegetation Communities and Spatial Distribution Differences of Larrea Tridentata Seed Density in Relation to Ambrosia Dumosa and Ambrosia Deltoidea, San Cristobal Valley, Arizona Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Shepherd, Ashley Lauren Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 08:33:46 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/217053 MAPPING OF SONORAN DESERT VEGETATION COMMUNITIES AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION DIFFERENCES OF LARREA TRIDENTATA SEED DENSITY IN RELATION TO AMBROSIA DUMOSA AND AMBROSIA DELTOIDEA , SAN CRITSOBAL VALLEY, ARIZONA by Ashley Lauren Shepherd ___________________________ A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE WITH A MAJOR NATURAL RESOURCES In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2011 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Ashley Lauren Shepherd APPROVAL BY THESIS COMMITTEE This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: ______________________________________ 2 December 2011 Dr. Jeffrey S. Fehmi Date Assistant Professor of Rangeland Management 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Jeff Fehmi for his guidance and support. In addition, thank you to my other committee members, Dr. Mitch McClaran and Dr. Phil Guertin, for their helpful advice, particularly Mitch who acted as my advisor while Jeff was deployed. I would like to thank Mickey Reed and Dr. Craig Wissler for their generous help with GIS questions. I would like to thank Jim Malusa for teaching me the ways of vegetation mapping. I would also like to thank my trusty field assistant, Cameron Warner, who helped with data collection and processing of seed density samples. I will never forget the kit foxes, “lord of the rings” mountains, “get outta there”, and all the random jokes we came up with. Thanks to Doug Whitbeck, Julia Sittig, and Meng Vue who volunteered to help me with data collection on several occasions. Thank you to all of my family and friends, particularly Eva Levi and Kara Limke. I am forever grateful for you patiently listening to me as I expressed frustrations. Mom you taught me to enjoy and cherish the outdoors when I was younger. My parents who have supported me on every endeavor I have undertaken. Last but not least, I would like to thank my fiancé John Hall who spent his days off helping me with data collection. Thank you for the continuous support and encouragement you offered me during the course of this project. You kept me grounded and sane during my most stressful moments. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES……………………….…….…………………………..................…...5 LIST OF TABLES…………………………...………..….…………..……………....……7 ABSTRACT……………………………………………..…...………………………..…...8 CHAPTER I: MAPPING VEGETATION COMMUNITIES OF BARRY M. GOLDWATER RANGE, SAN CRISTOBAL VALLEY, ARIZONA…..……………..….9 Abstract…………………………………………………………...….…..……...…9 Introduction……………………………………...………………….......…….....…9 Methods…………………………………………………………..…….......…..…10 Study Area ……...………………………………………….…….……..…13 Data Collection ……………………………...…………………....…...….12 Mapping ………………………………………………………...…...….…17 Vegetation Association Description……….. ...……. .….….17 Accuracy Assessment………….…………..…........…...…..17 Results…………………………………………………………..……….….….....18 Vegetation Association Summary ……………………….…….……......…18 Accuracy Assessment ……………………………………….....…..…...….20 Discussion and Conclusions……………………………..……………..…........…21 CHAPTER II: SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION DIFFERENCES OF LARREA TRIDENTATA (CREOSOTE BUSH) SEED DENSITY IN RELATION TO AMBROSIA DUMOSA (WHITE BURSAGE), AND AMBROSIA DELTOIDEA (TRIANGLE-LEAF BURSAGE)….……………………………………………………………….……..…….27 Abstract……………………………...………………………………..….…..…...27 Introduction…………………………………………………………...…..…...….27 Methods…………………………………………………………………...…....…31 Study Area ………………………………………...………………….…...31 Data Collection ………………………………….……….………….……32 Data Analysis …………………………………...………….…….….……35 Results…………………………………………………..………….……..………36 Canopy, Site and Species Pair-wise Comparison ……….…….……....….36 Pair-wise Comparison Across All Treatments ………………..…….....…42 Discussion and Conclusions……………………………..………….……..…...…44 APPENDIX A: RELEVÉ COORDINATES……………………………….…….….....…54 APPENDIX B: ASSOCIATION DESCRIPTIONS……………………..…………..……57 APPENDIX C: CONTINGENCY TABLE ……………………………….….…………..86 REFERENCES……………………………………………………..….….......…..………87 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Map of Barry M. Goldwater Range-East study area which encompasses the San Cristobal Valley and Mohawk Mountains. ………………..…………................................….....12 Figure 1.2 Distribution of relevés across the Barry M. Goldwater Range-East, San Cristobal Valley. UTM coordinates of all relevés can be found in Appendix A. ……………………..….14 Figure 1.3 Datasheet Example…………………………….……………………………………..15 Figure 1.4 Percentage of vegetation associations of the San Cristobal Valley are in parentheses following association name. Values in front of the bar graph represent the total number of hectares occupied by each association. The total size of the study area is 60,642ha………....…19 Figure 2.1 Map of the three study sites and eight random sampling points. AMDE study site consist of Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia deltoidea . AMDU study sites consist of Larrea tridentata - Ambrosia dumosa . AMBR site consist of Larrea tridentata - both species of Ambrosia .....…….33 Figure 2.2 Larrea tridentata seed density by site type. Average seed density for live, dead and no canopy cover each site type. Different lower letter case letters indicate significant differences within plot combinations based on Wilcoxon rank-sum test ( p< 0.016). Site abbreviations are as follows: AMDU: Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia dumosa , AMDE: Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia deltoidea , and AMBR: Larrea tridentata - both Ambrosia species. Error bars are the standard error of the mean. ............................................................................……………………………..37 Figure 2.3 Linear regression to show correlation between Larrea tridentata cover and seed density by site type. Graph A represents seed density at the Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia deltoidea site (AMDE). Graph B represents seed density at the Larrea tridentata -both Ambrosia species site (AMBR). Graph C represents seed density at the Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia dumosa site (AMBR). All graphs include seed density of live, dead, and no canopy Ambrosia . …………………………………………….………………...............................…………………38 Figure 2.4 Larrea tridentata seed density by canopy type. Seed numbers were averaged together for all sites to determine live Ambrosia , dead Ambrosia , and no canopy averages. Different lower case letters indicate significant differences within canopy type based on Wilcoxon rank-sum test (p< 0.016). Error bars are the standard error of the mean...............……………….………….…39 Figure 2.5 Linear regression to show correlation between Larrea tridentata cover and seed density by canopy type. Graph A represents seed density under live Ambrosia plants, seed densities from Ambrosia deltoidea and Ambrosia dumosa . Graph B represents density under dead Ambrosia plants; seed densities from Ambrosia deltoidea and Ambrosia dumosa are included. Graph C represents seed density with no Ambrosia canopy......................……………40 6 LIST OF FIGURES – Continued Figure 2.6 Larrea tridentata seed density by Ambrosia species. Average seed density for both live Ambrosia species across all three sites. Different letters would have indicated significant differences between species based on Kruskal-Wallis test ( p < 0.05). Dead plants were not included because it was difficult to determine if the dead plant was A. deltoidea or A. dumosa at the Larrea tridentata -both Ambrosia species site (AMBR). Error bars are the standard error of the mean. ..................................................................................………………..……..…….……41 Figure 2.7 Linear regression to show correlation between Larrea tridentata cover and seed density. Graph A includes seed density under live Ambrosia dumosa canopy from Larrea tridentata -both species of Ambrosia (AMBR) and Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia dumosa (AMDU) sites. Graph B includes seed density from Larrea tridentata -both species of Ambrosia (AMBR) and Larrea tridentata -Ambrosia deltoidea (AMDE) sites. Dead plants were not included in either graph because it was difficult to determine if the dead plant was A. deltoidea or A. dumosa at the Larrea tridentata