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Abstract
Buffel savannas have been an important landscape on cattle grazing ranches in Sonora over the past 50 years or more. Changes in land use result in biodiversity changes that may produce ecosystem functional changes; however, these are less well documented. Although fire driven processes have been proposed for Buffel savannas, this is not generally the case, and other processes seem to be driving ecosystem function. Several years of studying above- and below ground processes allow us to propose how microclimate, water and nutrient dynamics change in established Buffel savannas, as well as how biodiversity changes may affect functional processes in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Water and nutrient biogeochemical cycles changed in Buffel dominated savannas in comparison with those in natural ecosystems, following land use changes. Our findings may be extrapolated to other highly invaded areas were Buffel grass is becoming a dominant exotic species.
Parent Publication
Citation
Castellanos, A. E.; Celaya, H.; Hinojo, C.; Ibarra, A.; Romo, J. R. 2013. Biodiversity effects on ecosystem function due to land use: The case of buffel savannas in the Sky Islands Seas in the central region of Sonora. In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 191-196.
