Download (PDF 652 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/60538.pdf
Abstract
The “mesquite bosque” (Spanish for “forest” or “woodland”), one of the most unique and productive southwestern riparian habitat types, was once far more abundant than it is today. Twenty-five years ago, Stromberg (1993), with a focus on Arizona, provided an excellent review on the ecology, decline, existing threats, and potential for recovery of these mesquite forests. By 1993 the iconic mesquite bosque riparian habitat was in serious decline, due primarily to anthropogenic activities. Stromberg (1993) observed that previous attempts at habitat restoration were of limited success and indicated that much of the significant bosque habitat loss was largely the result of human-induced changes in the biotic and abiotic conditions and processes in river floodplains specifically required by species of mesquite (Prosopis spp.).
Parent Publication
Keywords
riparian,
ecosystem,
ecology,
riparian processes,
riparian losses,
restoration,
aquatic,
arid,
semiarid,
upland,
freshwater,
groundwater,
hydrology,
watershed,
tamarisk,
tamarisk leaf beetles (Diorhabda spp)
Citation
Johnson, R. Roy; Carothers, Tanner S.; Carothers, Steven W. 2020. Vanishing riparian mesquite bosques: Their uniqueness and recovery potential [Chapter 3]. In: Carothers, Steven W.; Johnson, R. Roy; Finch, Deborah M.; Kingsley, Kenneth J.; Hamre, Robert H., tech. eds. Riparian research and management: Past, present, future. Volume 2. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-411. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 47-62.
