Vegetation Dynamics on the Mountains and Plateaus of the American Southwest

"This is a meticulous, deep, and important synthesis of scientific knowledge of the Southwest's upland vegetation landscapes, enriched by the author's extensive experience, critical thinking, and striking photographs. The place itself is large and spectacular and the natural disturbances, such as wildfires and insect outbreaks, and human interactions, that are themes, operate at these big scales. To understand them, the book weaves a rich selection of early images of these landscapes with extensive historical sources, and comprehensive coverage of the scientific literature. This is a book whose distilled scientific knowledge is needed right now to think intelligently about what to do about the future." (Dr. William L. Baker, Faculty Emeritus, Department of Geography, University of Wyoming, February 2015) "A beautiful work of careful scholarship ... ." (Craig D. Allen, Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Los Alamos, New Mexico, January 2015)

The focus is on vegetation that is relatively undisturbed, i.e., in natural and near-natural condition, and how it responds to natural disturbances such as fire and drought, as well as to anthropogenic disturbances such as fire exclusion and invasive speciesThe book provides information essential for anyone interested in the ecology of the American Southwest, including land managers, environmental planners, conservationists, ecologists and students. It is unique in its coverage of the hows and whys of dynamics (changes) in the major types of vegetation occurring on southwestern mountains and plateaus. It explains the drivers and processes of change, describes historical changes and provides conceptual models that diagrammatically illustrate past, present, and potential future changes. All major types of vegetation are covered: spruce-fir, mixed conifer, and ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper vegetation, subalpine-montane grassland, and Gambel oak and interior chaparral shrublands. The focus is on vegetation that is relatively undisturbed, i.e., in natural and near-natural condition, and how it responds to natural disturbances such as fire and drought, as well as to anthropogenic disturbances such as fire exclusion and invasive species