Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Influence of Spatial Patterns of Soil Moisture on the Grass and Shrub Responses to a Summer Rainstorm in a Chihuahuan Desert Ecotone

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The cycling of surface water, energy, nutrients, and carbon is different between semiarid grassland and shrubland ecosystems. Although differences are evident when grasslands are compared to shrublands, the processes that contribute to this transition are more challenging to document. We evaluate how surface redistribution of precipitation and plant responses to the resulting infiltration patterns could contribute to the changes that occur during the transition from grassland to shrubland. We measured soil water potential under grasses (Bouteloua eriopoda), shrubs (Larrea tridentata) and bare soil and changes in plant water relations and gas exchange following a 15 mm summer storm in the grassland–shrubland ecotone at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico USA. Following the storm, soil water potential (Ψs) increased to 30 cm depth beneath both grass and shrub canopies, with the greatest change observed in the top 15 cm of the soil. The increase in Ψs was greater beneath grass canopies than beneath shrub canopies. Ψs under bare soil increased only to 5 cm depth. The substantial redistribution of rainfall and different rooting depths of the vegetation resulted in high Ψs throughout most of the rooting volume of the grasses whereas soil moisture was unchanged throughout a large portion of the shrub rooting volume. Consistent with this pattern, predawn water potential (ΨPD) of grasses increased more than 5 MPa to greater than −1 MPa whereas ΨPD of shrubs increased to −2.5 MPa, a change of less than 2 MPa. Transpiration increased roughly linearly with ΨPD in both grasses and shrubs. In grasses, assimilation was strongly correlated with ΨPD whereas there was no relationship in shrubs where assimilation showed no significant response to the pulse of soil moisture following the storm. These data show that preferential redistribution of water to grass canopies enhances transpiration and assimilation by grasses following large summer storms. This process may inhibit shrubland expansion at the ecotone during periods without extreme drought.

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

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrahams AD, Parsons AJ, Wainwright J. 1995. Effects of vegetation change on interrill runoff and erosion, walnut gulch, southern Arizona. Geomorphology 13:37–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer S. 1994. Woody plant encroachment into southwestern grasslands and savannas: rates, patterns and proximate causes. In: Vavra M, Laycock WA, Pieper RD, Eds. Ecological implications of livestock herbivory in the west. Denver, CO: Society For Range Management. p 13–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer S, Schimel DS, Holland EA. 1995. Mechanisms of shrubland expansion: land use, climate or CO2? Clim Change 29:91–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bahre CJ, Shelton MJ. 1993. Historic vegetation change, mesquite increases, and climate in southeastern Arizona. J Biogeogr 20:489–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bassirirad H, Tremmel DC, Virginia RA, Reynolds JF, DeSoyza AG, Brunell MH. 1999. Short-term patterns in water and nitrogen acquisition by two desert shrubs following a simulated summer rain. Plant Ecol 145:27–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedford DR, Small EE. 2008. Spatial patterns of ecohydrologic properties on a hillslope-alluvial fan transect, vol. 73, no. 1, central New Mexico: Catena. pp 34–48.

  • Bhark EW. 2002. Water availability to vegetation across a semiarid shrubland and grassland ecotone, Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge, Neew Mexico. Master's Thesis. New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM.

  • Bhark EW, Small EE. 2003. Association between plant canopies and the spatial patterns of infiltration in shrubland and grassland of the Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico. Ecosystems 6:185–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breshears D, Barnes F. 1999. Interrelationships between plant functional types and soil moisture heterogeneity for semiarid landscapes within the grassland/forest continuum: a unified conceptual model. Landsc Ecol 14:465–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brisson J, Reynolds JF. 1994. The effect of neighbors on root distribution in a creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) population. Ecology 75:1693–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bristow KL, Campbell GS, Calissendorff K. 1993. A test of a heat-pulse probe for measuring changes in soil water content. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57:930–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown R, Bartos D. 1982. A calibration model for screen-caged peltier thermocouple psychrometers. Usda Forest Service, Ogden, Ut, Int-293.

  • Buffington LC, Herbel CH. 1965. Vegetational changes on a semidesert grassland range from 1858–1963. Ecol Monogr 35:135–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis SD, Mooney HA. 1985. Comparative water relations of adjacent California shrub and grassland communities. Oecologia 66:522–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunkerley D. 2002. Infiltration rates and soil moisture in a groved mulga community near Alice Springs, arid central Australia: evidence for complex internal rainwater redistribution in a runoff-runon landscape. J Arid Environ 51:199–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunne J, Dennis A, Bartolome JW, Barrett RH. 1991. Chaparral response to a prescribed fire in the Mount Hamilton Range, Santa Clara County, California. Madroño 38:21–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR, Phillips SL, Schuster WSF, Sandquist DR. 1991. Differential utilization of summer rains by desert plants. Oecologia 88:430–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbens RP, McNeely RP, Havstad KM, Beck RF, Nolen B. 2005. Vegetation changes in the Jornada Basin from 1858 to 1998. J Arid Environ 61:651–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill RA, Burke IC. 1999. Ecosystem consequences of plant life form changes at three sites in the semiarid United States. Oecologia 121:551–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamerlynck EP, Huxman TE, Loik ME, Smith SD. 2000. Effects of extreme high temperature, drought and elevated CO2 on photosynthesis of the Mojave Desert evergreen shrub, Larrea tridentata. Plant Ecol 148:183–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton R, Hackler J, Lawrence K. 1999. The US carbon budget: contributions from land-use change. Science 285:574–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huxman TE, Tissue D, Snyder K, Leffler J, Ogle K, Pockman WT, Sandquist DR, Williams DG. 2004. Precipitation pulses and carbon dynamics in semi-arid and arid ecosystems. Oecologia 141:254–68.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huxman TE, Wilcox BP, Scott R, Snyder K, Breshears D, Small EE, Hultine KH, Pockman WT, Jackson RB. 2005. Woody plant encroachment and the water cycle: an ecohydrological framework. Ecology 86:308–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson RB, Banner JL, Jobbagy EG, Pockman WT, Wall DH. 2002. Ecosystem carbon loss with woody plant invasion of grasslands. Nature 418:623–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kieft TL, White CS, Loftin SR, Aguilar R, Craig JA, Skaar DA. 1998. Temporal dynamics in soil carbon and nitrogen resources at a grassland–shrubland ecotone. Ecology 79:671–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurc SA, Small EE. 2004. Dynamics of evapotranspiration in semiarid grassland and shrubland ecosystems during the summer monsoon season, central New Mexico. Water Resour Res 40:W09305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurc SA, Small EE. 2007. Soil moisture variations and ecosystem-scale fluxes of water and carbon in semiarid grassland and shrubland. Water Resour Res 43:W06416. doi:10.1029/2006WR005011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loik ME, Breshears DD, Lauenroth WK, Belnap J. 2004. A multi-scale perspective of water pulses in dryland ecosystems: climatology and ecohydrology of the western USA. Oecologia 141:269–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig J, Eager R, Bastin G, Chewings V, Liedloff A. 2002. A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing. Landsc Ecol 17:157–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montaña C, Cavagnaro B, Briones O. 1995. Soil-water use by coexisting shrubs and grasses in the southern Chihuahuan Desert; Mexico. J Arid Environ 31:1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan JA, LeCain DR, Mosier AR, Milchunas DG. 2001. Elevated CO2 enhances water relations and productivity and affects gas exchange in C-3 and C-4 grasses of the Colorado shortgrass steppe. Glob Chang Biol 7:451–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Odening WR, Strain BR, Oechel WC. 1974. The effect of decreasing water potential on net CO2 exchange of intact desert shrubs. Ecology 55:1086–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogle K, Reynolds JF. 2002. Desert dogma revisited: coupling of stomatal conductance and photosynthesis in the desert shrub, Larrea tridentata. Plant Cell Environ 25:909–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogle K, Reynolds JF. 2004. Plant responses to precipitation in desert ecosystems: integrating functional types, pulses, thresholds and delays. Oecologia 141:282–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Hurtt GC, Baker D, Peylin P, Houghton RA, Birdsey RA, Heath L, Sundquist ET, Stallard RF, Ciais P, Moorcroft P, Caspersen JP, Shevliakova E, Moore B, Kohlmaier G, Holland E, Gloor M, Harmon ME, Fan SM, Sarmiento JL, Goodale CL, Schimel D, Field CB. 2001. Consistent land- and atmosphere-based us carbon sink estimates. Science 292:2316–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez DV, Distel RA, Boo RM, Elia OR, Mayor MD. 1994. Water relations between shrubs and grasses in semiarid Argentina. J Arid Environ 27:71–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters DPC. 2002. Plant species dominance at a grassland–shrubland ecotone: an individual-based gap dynamics model of herbaceous and woody species. Ecol Modell 152:5–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters DPC, Small EE, Gosz J, Parmenter RR, Collins SL, Pockman WT. 2006a. Biotic transitions at multiple scales: merging patch dynamics with ecotones. Landsc Ecol 21:19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters DPC, Yao J, Gosz JR. 2006b. Woody plant invasion at a semin-arid/arid transition zone: importance of ecosystem type to colonization and patch expansion. J Veg Sci 17(3):389–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters DPC, Mariotto I, Havstad KM, Murray LW. 2006c. Spatial variation in remnant grasses after a grassland-to-shrubland state change: implications for restoration. Rangel Ecol Manage 59(4):343–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reece CF. 1996. Evaluation of line heat dissipation sensor for measuring soil matric potential. Soil Sci Soc Am 60:1022–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reid K, Wilcox B, Breshears D, Macdonald L. 1999. Runoff and erosion in a pinon-juniper woodland: influence of vegetation patches. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:1869–79.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Virginia RA, Kemp PR, de Soyza AG, Tremmel DC. 1999. Impact of drought on desert shrubs: effects of seasonality and degree of resource island development. Ecol Monogr 69:69–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds JF, Kemp PR, Ogle K, Fernandez RJ. 2004. Modifying the ‘pulse-reserve’ paradigm for deserts of North America: precipitation pulses, soil water and plant responses. Oecologia 141:194–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sala OE, Lauenroth WK, Parton WJ. 1992. Long-term soil–water dynamics in the shortgrass steppe. Ecology 73:1175–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schenk HJ, Jackson RB. 2002. The global biogeography of roots. Ecol Monogr 72:311–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Reynolds JF, Cunningham GL, Huenneke LF, Jarrell WM, Virginia RA, Whitford WG. 1990. Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science 247:1043–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Raikes JA, Hartley AE, Cross AE. 1996. On the spatial pattern of soil nutrients in desert ecosystems. Ecology 77:364–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Ward TJ, Anderson J. 2000. Nutrient losses in runoff from grassland and shrubland habitats in Southern New Mexico: I. Field plots. Biogeochemistry 49:69–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwinning S, Ehleringer JR. 2001. Water use trade-offs and optimal adaptations to pulse-driven arid ecosystems. J Ecol 89:464–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwinning S, Davis K, Richardson L, Ehleringer JR. 2002. Deuterium enriched irrigation indicates different forms of rain use in shrub/grass species of the Colorado plateau. Oecologia 130:345–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soriano A, Sala O. 1984. Ecological strategies in a Patagonian arid steppe. Vegetatio 56:9–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner NC. 1987. The use of the pressure chamber in studies of plant water status. International conference on measurement of soil and plant water status, Logan, Utah, vol. 2, pp 13–24.

  • Van Vegten JA. 1983. Thornbush invasion in a savanna ecosystem in eastern Botswana. Vegetatio 56:3–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter H. 1971. Ecology of tropical and subtropical vegetation. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter H. 1973. Vegetation of Earth. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weltzin JF, Loik ME, Schwinning W, Williams DG, Fay PA, Haddad BM, Harte J, Huxman TE, Knapp AK, Lin G, Pockman WT, Shaw MR, Small EE, Smith MD, Smith SD, Tissue DT, Zak JC. 2003. Assessing the response of terrestrial systems to potential changes in precipitation. Bioscience 53:941–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox B. 2002. Shrub control and streamflow on rangelands: a process based viewpoint. J Range Manage 55:318–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan SG, Wan CG, Sosebee RE, Wester DB, Fish EB, Zartman RE. 2000. Responses of photosynthesis and water relations to rainfall in the desert shrub creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) as influenced by municipal biosolids. J Arid Environ 46:397–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank E. Bhark, S. Kurc, J. Balulis, J. Elliott, O. Hopkins, E. Posdamer, D. McGhee, and T. Wellman for their extraordinary efforts in plot construction, sensor installation and field measurements. S. A. White processed the overhead photos to obtain the images in Figure 1. D. G. Williams and M. Loik provided valuable input on an earlier draft. We thank the staff of the Sevilleta NWR and LTER. This study was funded through awards from SAHRA, an NSF Science and Technology Center at the University of Arizona, the Sevilleta LTER (NSF DEB-0080529), USDA-NRICGP (98-35100-7025 to WTP), and the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Program, U.S. Department of Energy, through the Southcentral Regional Center of NIGEC (to WTP & EES) and the Western Regional Center of National Institute for Climatic Change Research (to WTP, EES and Scott Collins).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, MSC03 2020, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131-0001, USA

    William T. Pockman

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado—Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0399, USA

    Eric E. Small

Authors
  1. William T. Pockman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eric E. Small
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William T. Pockman.

Additional information

Author contributions

William T. Pockman and Eric E. Small conceived of and designed the study, performed the research, analyzed the data, contributed new methods or models and wrote the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pockman, W.T., Small, E.E. The Influence of Spatial Patterns of Soil Moisture on the Grass and Shrub Responses to a Summer Rainstorm in a Chihuahuan Desert Ecotone. Ecosystems 13, 511–525 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9337-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9337-2

Key words

Search

Navigation