Plant associations on a Sonoran Desert bajada: geographical correlates and evolutionary source pools
✍ Scribed by Bowers, Michael A.
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 459 KB
- Volume
- 74
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1573-5052
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✦ Synopsis
In this paper the hypothesis is tested that the local distributions of perennial plants on a desert bajada are related to those at the regional/geographical level. Plant species reaching their highest density in the lower, mid-, or upper plant association on the bajada showed no difference in their latitudinal centers of distribution, or the latitudinal variation over the region. However, plants in the three associations did differ significally in the standardized distance of their regional distribution from the target bajada: i.e., plant species characteristic of the mid-bajada were significantly closer to their regional distribution centers than were plants in the lower or upper association. These results suggest that the local distribution of plants on desert bajadas are related to those at the regional level. Consideration of historical source-pools may provide a key to understanding both the ecological and biogeographic components of plant associations in North American desert regions.