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The Upper Desert Grassland of Southern Arizona a Basic Ecological Analysis

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The Upper Desert Grassland of Southern Arizona a Basic Ecological Analysis The upper desert grassland of Southern Arizona; a basic ecological analysis Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Kincaid, David Reed, 1931- 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 29/09/2021 12:45:19 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553930 THE UPPER DESERT GRASSLAND OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA A BASIC ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS , . ' - by David Reed Kincaid . ■ : U '- '4' , - j:-: 1 : v : ' . .. ^ :r .. " *■ - —f v ‘ - : . • ^ O" . ' . ... " ' - . :.. - '■.vv:*; . Cc : : . s . ' , A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Graduate College UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA :« • . p . 1959 AMOSLfiA T/m3HTtJU8 3 0 Q/iAaadAJIO TJ1383a H33RU 3HT GJ.C JAHAa/xOI )JOO i DIdAfi A hif.Dmvi hivcQ is rj: -i. L /'* '4LW 7: ,: 4 J / >, / 3ffi TCO'i 30M31D8 30 M3T2AM ^gyiloD abstC orli nl AVia IJriJS 3 0 YTI2M3VIVTU f e d £ 979/ 1959 n STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of require­ ments 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 acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for perm ission 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 their 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: / ^ V ^ APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: ____J f . ______________________________ 4 ^ / X T ? Robert F. Wagle^ Date Assistant Professor of Watershed Management ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Robert F. Wagle for his assistance in the preparation of this paper. Gratitude is also extended to Dr. Robert R. Humphrey for guidance in setting up this study and for his valuable suggestions on the presentation of included data. C; iii TABLE OF CONTENTS P a g e List .of Tables. ................................ ................................................ .. v List of Figures............................................. .................................................... v INTR O D U C TIO N ....................................................................................... 1 LITER A TU R E REVIEW .................................................................................. 3 DESCRIPTION O F THE STUDY A REA.................................................. 5 * L ocation ............................................................................ 5 C lim a te ................................................................. 5 G eology and S o ils ..................................................................................... 6 PRO CEDURE.................................................................. 8 CHARACTERISTICS O F INDIVIDUAL P L O T S.................................. 9 RESULTS...................................................................................... 16 - DISCUSSION. ......... .......• • ........... • • 21 Altitudinal lim its of the Oak Savanna....................................... 21 Distribution of Species Within the Oak Savanna..................... 22 Floristic Relationship of the Oak Savanna........... 26 S U M M A R Y .................................................................................................. 31 LITERATURE C ITED ..................................................................................... 33 A P P E N D I X ...; ' .................................................................. 35 LIST OF TABLES T able P a g e 1. Certain site characteristics as related to plant densities 17 2. Major plant species in the study area and relative occur­ rence frequencies*......... ............... 20 LIST OF FIGURES Figure : : ' ^ Page 1. General view of the oak’savanna showing scattered trees with grass understory ........................................................... 2 2. Portion of study area with Muhlenbergia emersleyi (tall, plume-like seedheads) and Andropogon cirratus co -d o m in a n t...................................................................................................... 10 3. Plot VI. Typical oak savanna with Andropogon cir­ ratus dominant. Trees consist primarily" of Quercus oblongifolia. .................................................................................... 13 4. Comparative rainfall and temperature from Porter-: . ville, California and Ruby, Arizona, showing similar winter conditions.......... ................................................................ 28 5. Comparative rainfall and temperature from Hays, Kansas and Bear Valley, Arizona, showing similar summer growing conditions.............................................. .. 30 v INTRODUCTION There are almost no basic ecologic or floristic studies on the upper desert grassland of New Mexico and Arizona. Such studies are fundamental to the development of ecologic methods for the control of invading species. Analysis of vegetation changes and of the factors primarily responsible may indicate effective measures needed to con­ trol the woody plants that have invaded many of these ranges. In order to make a thorough analysis of vegetation changes in the upper desert grassland, it is first necessary to know the species prevalent in the area before the arrival of the large herds of livestock before and during the 1880*8. Since early literature provides few detailed descriptions, this study necessarily began with an analysis of grassland ungrazed by domestic animals. The rare places where such situations exist today, are isolated spots physio graphic ally inaccessible to livestock. The purpose of this study was to obtain and interpret basic data on the floristic characteristics and environment of the upper desert grassland as typified by the oak savanna of southern Arizona (Figure 1). 1 V 14 y»': ■ :% i / jY #- ,r B atigs* ^ irM f k /A Figure 1. General view of the oak savanna showing scattered trees with grass under­ s to r y . LITERATURE REVIEW Travelers through southern Arizona about the time of the Civil War admired the upper desert grassland for its beauty and praised it for its productivity. J. Ross Browne (1864) wrote — The day’s journey through the valley of N ogales... was one of the most pleasant of our trip. Every mile we travelled the country improved in beauty and fer­ tility. Grass up to our horses’ shoulders covered the valley, and the hills were clothed with luxuriant groves of oak. Much of the country reminded me of the Coast Range in California. The foothill m esas east of the Santa Rita Mountains also drew special atten tion . It was a matter of surprise to us how luxuriant the grass was on this m esa and what an inexhaust­ ible support it affords for innumerable herds of cattle. ; ; : : . : Unfortunately, too many people believed the grass was inex­ haustible. The ’’innumerable herds” of 1864 continued growing until by 1901 there were few areas of virgin vegetation left in southern Arizona. In that year, David Griffiths (1901) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture wrote-- On all the Western stock ranges which the writer has visited there have existed many small areas in cultivated fields, unused pastures, fenced railroad 3 4 rights-of-way and sim ilar situations which are in their virgin state or have so far recovered from overstocking as to bear testimony to the original productivity of the soil. Thingst are far, different in large areas of Southern Arizona. Here unused pastures are very rare, cultivated fields are fewer in number and the destruction is so complete that in many localities even the railroad right-of-way has recovered but little in three or four years* ? i tim e . Although Griffiths (1901), Thornber (1909), and Shreve (1915) described the upper desert grassland floristically, they did not dis­ cuss it from a successional point of view. The area they described as the ''upper foothills", "live-oak belt", or "encinal" were locations throughout southern Arizona and New Mexico characterized by large grassy slopes dotted with evergreen oaks and nut pines. -.As a rule, > these oak savanna areas occurred as belts connecting the treeless valleys or plains with the more heavily forested mountaintops. Shreve (1915) placed the lower lim it of the "encinal" of the Santa Catalina mountains at 4, 300 feet and the upper at 6, 000 to 6, 500 ■feet. ■ - r: v; :■ ! . v : ' -.;■ . ' - ' ' ' :::: ' ■ v r: , ;:0' - . - . :■ ;.Gv DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA L ocation . The study was made in Township 23 South, Ranges 11 and 12 East, in southwestern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. In this area nine plots were so located as to permit analysis of vegetation at different elevations on a variety of exposures. Elevations of the plots ranged from 5, 200 feet to 5, 500 feet. C lim a te. Climatic records were available for Nogales, Arizona, about 18 miles southeast of the study area, and for Ruby, Arizona, seven m iles
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