Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stable carbon isotope analysis of soil organic matter illustrates vegetation change at the grassland/woodland boundary in southeastern Arizona, USA

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In southeastern Arizona, Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. and Quercus emoryi Torr. are the dominant woody species at grassland/woodland boundaries. The stability of the grassland/woodland boundary in this region has been questioned, although there is no direct evidence to confirm that woodland is encroaching into grassland or vice versa. We used stable carbon isotope analysis of soil organic matter to investigate the direction and magnitude of vegetation change along this ecotone. δ13C values of soil organic matter and roots along the ecotone indicated that both dominant woody species (C3) are recent components of former grasslands (C4), consistent with other reports of recent increases in woody plant abundance in grasslands and savannas throughout the world. Data on root biomass and soil organic matter suggest that this increase in woody plant abundance in grasslands and savannas may increase carbon storage in these ecosystems, with implications for the global carbon cycle.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ambrose SH, Sikes NE (1991) Soil carbon isotope evidence for Holocene habitat change in the Kenya Rift Valley. Science 253: 1402–1405

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer S (1990) Development and stability of grass/woody mosaics in a subtropical savanna parkland, Texas, u.S.A. J Biogeog 17: 453–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer S, Scifres C, Bassham CR (1988) Autogenic succession in a subtropical savanna: conversion of grassland to thorn woodland. Ecol Monogr 58: 111–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahre CJ (1977) Land-use history of the Research Ranch, Elgin, Arizona. J Ariz Acad Sci 12 [Suppl 2]: 1–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahre CJ (1991) A Legacy of Change: Historic Human Impact on Vegetation in the Arizona Borderlands. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 231 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt JL, Van Devender TR, Martin PS (1990) Packrat Middens: The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 467 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn WH, Tueller PT (1970) Pinyon and juniper invasion in black sagebrush communities in east-central Nevada. Ecology 51: 841–848

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogusch ER (1952) Brush invasion on the Rio Grande Plains of Texas. Texas J Sci 4: 85–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Boutton TW (1991a) Stable carbon isotope ratios of natural materials: I. Sample preparation and mass spectrometric analysis. In: Coleman DC, Fry B (eds) Carbon Isotope Techniques. Academic Press, New York, pp 155–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Boutton, TW (1991b) Stable carbon isotope ratios of natural materials: II. Atmospheric, terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. In: Coleman DC, Fry B (eds) Carbon Isotope Techniques. Academic Press, New York, pp 173–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucher EH (1987) Herbivory in arid and semi-arid regions of Argentina. Revista Chilenda de Historia Natural 608: 265–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Buffington LC, Herbel CH (1965) Vegetational changes on a semidesert grassland range from 1858 to 1963. Ecol Monogr 35: 139–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke RU, Reeves RW (1976) Arroyos and environmental change in the American south-west. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig H (1957) Isotopic standards for carbon and oxygen and correction factors for mass spectrometric analysis of carbon dioxide. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 12: 133–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis PS, Balduman LM, Drake BG, Whigman DF (1990) Elevated atmospheric CO2 effects on belowground processes in C3 and C4 estuarine marsh communities. Ecology 71: 2001–2006

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlman RG, Kucera CL (1965) Root productivity and turnover in native prairie. Ecology 46: 84–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis JG (1977) Distribution patterns of belowground standing crop in arctic tundra at Barrow, Alaska. In: Marshall JK (ed) The Belowground Ecosystem: A Synthesis of Plant-Associated Processes. Range Science Department, Colorado State Univ, Fort Collins, pp 53–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Dzuree RS, Boutton TW, Caldwell MM, Smith BN (1985) Carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter and their use in assessing community composition changes in Curlew Valley, Utah. Oecologia 66: 17–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel WR, Shugart HH, Stevenson M (1985) Climatic change and the broad-scale distribution of terrestrial ecosystem complexes. Climatic Change 7: 29–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurevitch J (1986) Competition and the local distribution of the grass Stipa neomexicana. Ecology 67: 46–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington GN, Wilson AD, Young MD (1984) Management of Australia's Rangelands. CSIRO, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastings JR, Turner RM (1965) The Changing Mile. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 317 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey RR (1958) The desert grasslands: a history of vegetational change and an analysis of causes. Bot Rev 24: 193–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Huttel C (1975) Root distribution and biomass in three Ivory Coast rain forest plots. In: Golley FB, Medina E (eds) Tropical Ecological Systems: Trends in Terrestrial and Aquatic Research. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 123–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson LE, Strauss RB, Firestone MK, Bartolome JW (1990) Influence of tree canopies on grassland productivity and nitrogen dynamics in deciduous oak savanna. Agric Ecosyst Environ 32: 89–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly RD, Walker BH (1976) The effects of different forms of land use on the ecology of a semi-arid region of southeastern Rhodesia. J Ecol 64: 553–576

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemmedson JO, Tiedemann AR (1986) Long-term effects of mesquite removal on soil characteristics: II. Nutrient availability. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50: 476–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoop WT, Walker BH (1985) Interactions of woody and herbaceous vegetation in a southern African savanna. J Ecol 73: 235–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson GW, Jenik J, Armstrong-Mensah KO (1968) A study of a vegetation catena in Guinea savanna at Mole Game Reserve (Ghana). J Ecol 56: 505–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayeux HS, Johnson HB, Polley HW (1991) Global change and vegetation dynamics. In: James LF, Evans JO, Ralphs MH, Child RD (eds) Noxious Range Weeds. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, pp 62–74

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaugherty CA, Aber JD, Melillo JM (1982) The role of fine roots in the organic matter and nitrogen budgets of two forested ecosystems. Ecology 63: 1481–1490

    Google Scholar 

  • Melgoza G, Nwak RS (1991) Competition between cheatgrass and two native species after fire: implications from observations and measurements of root distribution. J Range Man 44: 27–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellilo JM, Aber JD, Linkins AE, Ricca A, Fry B, Nadelhoffer KJ (1989) Carbon and nitrogen dynamics along the decay continuum: plant litter to soil organic matter. In: Clarholm M, Bergstrom L (eds) Ecology of Arable Land. Kluwer Academic Publ, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp 53–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Menaut JC, Gignoux J, Prado C, Globert J (1990) Tree community dynamics in a humid savanna of the Cote-d'Ivoire: modelling the effects of fire and competition with grass and neighbours. J Biogeog 17: 471–481

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadelhoffer KJ, Fry B (1988) Controls on natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52: 1633–1640

    Google Scholar 

  • Neilson RP (1986) High resolution climatic analysis and southwest biogeography. Science 232: 27–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Okali DUU, Hall JB, Lawson GW (1973) Root distribution under a thicket clump on the Accra plains, Ghana: its relevance to clump localization and water relations. J Ecol 61: 439–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Pella E, Colombo B (1973) Study of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen determination by combustion-gas chromatography. Mikrochim Acta 1973: 697–719

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards JH (1986) Root form and depth distribution in several biomes. In: Carlisle D, Berry WL, Kaplan IR, Watterson JR (eds) Mineral Exploration: Biological Systems and Organic Matter, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp 83–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson ML, Clemmons SD, Walker JC (1979) Soil survey of Santa Cruz and parts of Cochise and Pima counties, Arizona. United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service, 100 p

  • Sauer CO (1950) Grassland climax, fire and man. J Range Man 3: 16–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Reynolds JF, Cunningham GL, Huenneke LF, Jarrell WM, Virginia RA, Whitford WG (1990) Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science 247: 1043–1048

    Google Scholar 

  • Schofield CJ, Bucher EH (1986) Industrial contributions to desertification in South America. Trends Ecol Evol 1: 78–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz D, Mariotti A, Lanfranchi R, Guillet B (1986) 13C/12C ratios of soil organic matter as indicators of vegetation changes in the Congo. Geoderma 39: 97–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro SS, Wilk MB (1965) An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples). Biometrika 52: 591–611

    Google Scholar 

  • Sims PL, Singh JS (1978) The structure and function of ten western North American grasslands. J Ecol 66: 547–572

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh JS, Joshi MC (1979) Ecology of the semi-arid regions of India with emphasis on land-use. In: Walker BH (ed) Management of Semi-arid Ecosystems, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 243–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Smeins FE (1983) Origin of the brush problem—a geographical and ecological perspective of contemporary distributions. In: McDaniel KC (ed) Brush Management Symposium, Texas Tech Press, Lubbock, pp 5–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Soriano A, Sala O (1983) Ecological strategies in a Patagonian steppe. Vegetatio 56: 9–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Steuter AA, Jasch B, Ihnen J, Tieszen LL (1990) Woodland/grassland boundary changes in the middle Niobrara Valley of Nebraska identified by δ13C values of soil organic matter. Am Midl Nat 124: 301–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson FJ, Elliott ET (1989) Methodologies for assessing the quantity and quality of soil organic matter. In: Coleman DC, Oades JM, Uehara G (eds) Dynamics of Soil Organic Matter in Tropical Ecosystems, NifTAL Project, Dept Agronomy and Soil Science, University of Hawaii, pp 173–199

  • Stewart OC (1951) Burning and natural vegetation in the United States. Geog Rev 41: 317–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout JD, Goh KM, Rafter TA (1981) Chemistry and turnover of naturally occurring resistant organic compounds in soil. In: Paul EA, Ladd JN (eds) Soil Biochemistry, vol 5, Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 1–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiedemann AR, Klemmedson JO (1973a) Nutrient availabilit in desert grassland soils under mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) trees and adjacent open areas. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37: 107–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiedemann AR, Klemmedson JO (1973b) Effects of mesquite on physical and chemical properties of the soil. J Range Manage 26: 27–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiedemann AR, Klemmedson JO (1986) Long-term effects of mesquite removal on soil characteristics: I. Nutrients and bulk density. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 50: 472–475

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL, Archer S (1990) Isotopic assessment of vegetation changes in grassland and woodland systems. In: Osmond CB, Pitelka LF, Hidy GM (eds) Plant Biology of the Basin and Range, Ecological Studies Series, Vol 80, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp 293–321

    Google Scholar 

  • van Vegten JA (1983) Thornbrush invasion in a savanna ecosystem in eastern Botswana. Vegetatio 56: 3–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Virginia RA, Jarrell WM (1983) Soil properties in a mesquite-dominated Sonoran Desert ecosystem. Soil Sci Soc Am J 47: 138–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkoff B, Cerri CC (1987) Carbon isotope fractionation in subtropical Brazilian grassland soils: comparison with tropical forest soils. Plant Soil 102: 27–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter H (1971) Ecology of tropical and subtropical vegetation. Burnett JH (ed), Translated by Mueller-Dombois D. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh

    Google Scholar 

  • Wentworth TR (1983) Distributions of C4 plants along environmental and compositional gradients in southeastern Arizona. Vegetatio 52: 21–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright HA, Bailey AW (1982) Fire Ecology: United States and Southern Canada. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 501 p

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. J. Midwood

    Present address: Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, AB92QJ, Aberdeen, Scotland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest-Watershed Sciences Program, School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    G. R. McPherson

  2. Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A & M University, 77843, College Station, TX, USA

    T. W. Boutton & A. J. Midwood

Authors
  1. G. R. McPherson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. W. Boutton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. J. Midwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McPherson, G.R., Boutton, T.W. & Midwood, A.J. Stable carbon isotope analysis of soil organic matter illustrates vegetation change at the grassland/woodland boundary in southeastern Arizona, USA. Oecologia 93, 95–101 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00321197

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00321197

Key words

Search

Navigation