A Century of Change: A Photographic History and Analysis of Vegetation Conditions, 1891-1983
Schackel S. 1984. A Century of Change: A Photographic History and Analysis of Vegetation Conditions, 1891-1983. Cultural Landscape Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Santa Fe, New Mexico
This report surveys the vegetation resources of El Morro National Monument, tracking the changes over the course of late 19th to late 20th century. The arrangement of plants on the monument fall into four main plant associations--species that occur together because of congruencies in need, such as water, nutrients, and sunlight. Archibald Mccallum mapped these associations in 1981 as part of his vegetation study. These associations are not separated by definite boundaries but grade into each other, beginning on the mesa top and spreading down the slopes and into the flats. The report notes the most noticeable change in the vegetation as an increase in the pinyon-juniper woodland and the spread of Big Sagebrush. The phenomena is explained by overgrazing before 1900 and fire suppression since 1900.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Schackel, Sandra
- Date of Issue
- 1984-02-25
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- ELMO , IMR
- Keywords
- brush, fire control, grassland, grazing, overgrazing, pinyon-juniper, vegetation