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Abstract
There is a significant history of cooperative efforts between Mexico and the United States on natural resource management issues. Mexico and the United States have jointly conducted research and developed range management technologies. Bringing these technologies together and improving technical communications are an ongoing process. This paper discusses a potential tool that can provide a common denominator for both countries to more easily frame, describe, and share data relative to rangeland resources. The objective is to present possibilities for utilizing current data and provide a vehicle that can facilitate technical communications. Existing maps including climate and elevation were used to define probable areas of Chihuahua and Sonora that would be similar enough to Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs) of Arizona to consider them an extension of those MLRAs. Reconnaissance surveys were made to compare soils and vegetation to those described in Arizona. Comparisons were also made between Ecological Sites (ESDs) used in the United States with those developed in Mexico by COTECOCA. A preliminary map was developed that represents probable boundaries of MLRA 41 if extended from the U.S. border into the states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Some sites were mapped to test application of U.S. ecological site descriptions with on-ground conditions in Chihuahua. The potential for extending MLRA boundaries from the United States into Mexico are feasible and realistic. This would facilitate the direct use of Ecological Site Descriptions across borders and improve exchange of rangeland data between the two countries.
Parent Publication
Keywords
Madrean Archipelago,
Sky Islands,
southwestern United States,
northern Mexico,
natural environment,
fauna,
flora,
research,
management,
biodiversity,
climate change
Citation
Mann, Roy S.; Heilman, Philip; Stone, Jeffry. 2013. Potential for extending major land resource areas into northern Mexico. 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. 381-388.
