Establishing soil and surficial geologic habitat criteria for presumed gypsophiles - The example of Eriogonum corymbosum var. nilesii, Mojave Desert, U.S.A.

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The AA. use soil profile data and high resolution (1:3000 scale) surficial geologic maps to identify likely edaphic controls of a rare shrub endemic to the Mojave Desert, E. corymbosum var. nilesii (LVB) habitat, potential habitat, and non-habitat distributions. They confirm gypsiferous substrates lacking hard, physical surface crusts as a boundary condition in most population clusters, but find that fine-grained, carbonate-rich soil lacking gypsum is also viable habitat, as is shallow (< 1 m) sandy alluvium overlying gypsiferous sediments. Deep (> 1 m), coarse-grained alluvium and/or surfaces with tightly interlocking desert pavement exclude LVB. These results challenge the view of this target species as a true gypsophile, however, it remains unclear whether carbonate-rich habitats represent ideal conditions or refugia. This study underscores the important merits of surficial geologic mapping and soil morphological description for ecological research, conservation, restoration, and land management in arid environments, especially gypsum soils, worldwide.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Catena (Giessen), issn : 0341-8162, 2014, n°. 118, p. 9-19, nombre de pages : 11, Références bibliographiques : 1 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Allemagne, Cremlingen-Destedt, Catena