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Chihuahuan Desert Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Final Report

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Chihuahuan Desert Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Final Report CHIHUAHUAN DESERT RAPID ECOREGIONAL ASSESSMENT FINAL REPORT Photo: Jason Karl U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Rapid Ecoregional Assessments October 2017 It is the mission of the Bureau of Land Management to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. SUBMITTED TO David Herrell, Contracting Officers Representative (COR) Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Carlsbad Field Office 620 East Greene Street Carlsbad, NM 88220-6292 SUBMITTED BY Sound Science LLC U.S. Department of Agriculture PO Box 9721 Agricultural Research Service Boise, ID 83707 Jornada Experimental Range MSC 3JER, NMSU, Box 30003 Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003 CHIHUAHUAN DESERT RAPID ECOREGIONAL ASSESSMENT Final Report U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Rapid Ecoregional Assessments October 2017 Authorship Cite as: Unnasch, R., D. Braun, N. Welch, and V. Seamster. 2017. Chihuahuan Desert Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Final Report. With contributions by C. Salo and K. Young. Sound Science technical report to the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Program. Acknowledgments Numerous individuals provided advice and/or access to specialized datasets, for which the authors specifically wish to express their thanks. These individuals include: Ben Bloodworth, Tamarisk Coalition Program Coordinator; Philip Morefield, ICLUS Program, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Tim Frey, Dave Herrell, Ray Hewitt, Calvin Deal, and Mark Coca, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico; and Jason Frels, Kristen Wobbe, Danelle Malget, Laura Van De Riet, Troy Kashon, and Rick Bradley, National Operations Center, Bureau of Land Management. Jason Karl and Kert Young, formerly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service, Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico State University, were instrumental in launching the REA; Reza Goljani Amirkhiz, New Mexico State University, assisted extensively with data acquisition; George Dickinson, Sound Science LLC, assisted with data tabulation and documentation; and Christine Wisnewski, Sound Science LLC, compiled the final report. Contents Authorship .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Purpose and Structure of Rapid Ecoregional Assessments ........................................................ 11 1.2 Chihuahuan Desert REA Geographic Extent ............................................................................... 12 1.3 Overview of the Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion .......................................................................... 14 1.4 Chihuahuan Desert REA Conservation Elements ........................................................................ 16 1.5 Chihuahuan Desert REA Change Agents ..................................................................................... 17 1.6 Chihuahuan Desert REA Management Questions ...................................................................... 18 1.7 Chihuahuan Desert REA Conceptual Ecological Models ............................................................. 18 1.8 Chihuahuan Desert REA, Assessment Phase Process ................................................................. 20 1.9 Chihuahuan Desert REA Findings ................................................................................................ 20 1.9.1 Conservation Element Current Geographic Distributions .................................................. 20 1.9.2 Conservation Element Current Conditions ......................................................................... 22 1.9.3 Change Agent Geographic Distributions and Impacts ........................................................ 23 1.9.4 Management Questions...................................................................................................... 28 1.10 Data Gaps and Weaknesses ........................................................................................................ 32 1.10.1 Conservation Elements ....................................................................................................... 33 1.10.2 Change Agents .................................................................................................................... 33 1.10.3 Models of Recharge Zone and Gypsic Conditions ............................................................... 34 1.11 Chihuahuan Desert REA Assessment Report Structure .............................................................. 34 Introduction to the Chihuahuan Desert Rapid Ecoregional Assessment ............................................ 35 2.1 Purpose and Structure of Rapid Ecoregional Assessments ........................................................ 35 2.2 Purpose and Structure of the Chihuahuan Desert Assessment Report ...................................... 36 2.3 Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion and REA Analysis Extent ............................................................. 36 2.4 Chihuahuan Desert Biophysical Setting ...................................................................................... 38 Chihuahuan Desert Rapid Ecoregional Assessment Final Report i 2.4.1 Climate ................................................................................................................................ 41 2.4.2 Geology ............................................................................................................................... 45 2.4.3 Soils ..................................................................................................................................... 48 2.4.4 Hydrology ............................................................................................................................ 48 2.4.5 Wildfire ................................................................................................................................ 50 2.5 Chihuahuan Desert Biodiversity .................................................................................................. 51 2.5.1 Species Richness.................................................................................................................. 51 2.5.2 Characteristic and Keystone Species .................................................................................. 53 2.5.3 Ecological Systems .............................................................................................................. 54 2.6 Chihuahuan Desert Human Landscape ....................................................................................... 54 2.6.1 Demography ........................................................................................................................ 54 2.6.2 Land Ownership .................................................................................................................. 56 2.6.3 Land Use .............................................................................................................................. 58 2.6.4 Water Use ........................................................................................................................... 60 Conservation Elements, Change Agents, Management Questions, and Assessment Methodology.. 62 3.1 Conservation Elements ............................................................................................................... 62 3.1.1 Terrestrial Ecological System Conservation Elements ........................................................ 63 3.1.2 Aquatic-Wetland Ecological System Conservation Elements ............................................. 64 3.1.3 Species and Species Assemblage Conservation Elements .................................................. 66 3.2 Change Agents ............................................................................................................................ 68 3.2.1 Climate Change ................................................................................................................... 68 3.2.2 Uncharacteristic Wildfire .................................................................................................... 69 3.2.3 Invasive Species................................................................................................................... 69 3.2.4 Development ....................................................................................................................... 70 3.2.5 Excessive Domestic Grazing ................................................................................................ 71 3.2.6 Landscape Restoration ........................................................................................................ 72 3.3 Management Questions ............................................................................................................. 72 3.4 Assessment Methodology ........................................................................................................... 74 Climate Change ..................................................................................................................................
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