Transplanting brush species for the rehabilitation of Sonoran Desert degraded rangelands in Mexico

摘要

The study was conducted in 2014 at Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico. Two hundred plants of iron wood (Olneya tesota), palo verde (Cercidium microphyllum), mesquite (Prosopisjuliflora) and zamota [Coursetia glandulosa) were sown in the greenhouse during May-July. One hundred plants of each species were transplanted at 10 m intervals along contour furrows in the field. Another hundred plants were transplanted in the flat areas of the field without contour furrows (control). A completely randomized design wasused and the information was analysed by AN OVA (P<0.05). Precipitation was 20.9% above the mean for 2014 and 39.7% below average for 2015. Plant survival and height was different (P<0.05) in areas with and without contour furrows. Plant survival in thecontour furrows averaged 48.5% among species with 45, 48, 65 and 35% for ironwood, palo verde, mesquite and zamota, respectively, while in the control, survival averaged 11.3% among species with 12, 5, 20 and 8% for ironwood, palo verde, mesquite and zamota, respectively. The height of species on the contour furrowing plots was higher (P<0.05) and ranged from 58-165 cm, whereas in the control plots it was 40-72 cm. It was concluded that rehabilitation of rangelands by transplanting shrubs along contourfurrows is an alternative method for restoring productivity on Sonoran Desert ecosystems.