Ecology of saltcedar—A plea for research |
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Authors: | Benjamin L Everitt |
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Institution: | (1) 606 Blackhawk Way, Salt Lake City, Utah |
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Abstract: | Because of the interdiscriplinary requirements of studies of river-floodplain systems, development of this field in the United
States has been slow, and much information needed for watershed and river-basin planning is not available. This is particularly
true in the southwestern United States, where study has been further complicated within the last 50 years by the introduction
and spread of saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis)which has occurred simultaneously with other independently generated environmental changes.
The spread of saltcedar has been aided both by purposeful planding and by a fortuitous combination of events that has weakened
the native ecosystem at the time that seeds of the new species have been made available, events that possibly include changes
in such environmental parameters as flood frequency, channel stability, the season of the peak annual flood, water temperature
and salinity, and sediment grain size. Careful research is needed to unravel and understand the network of relationships involved.
Phenomena are arranged in chains of necessary sequence. … If we examine any link of the chain, we find it has more than one
antecedent and more than one consequent. … Antecedent and consequent relations are therefore not merely linear, but constitute
a plexus; and this plexus pervades nature. |
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Keywords: | |
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