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opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

The fate of páramo plant assemblages in the sky islands of the northern Andes - Appendix S1. Vegetation and occurrence data used in this study

Aims: Assessing climate change impacts on biodiversity is a main scientific challenge, especially in the tropics, therefore, we predicted the future of plant species and communities on the unique páramo sky islands. We implemented the Spatially Explicit Species Assemblage Modelling framework, by i) calculating species' maximum dispersal distance, ii) modelling species distributions at present up to 2100, iii) assembling models into communities. Finally, we assessed the vulnerability of sky islands based on richness and composition changes. Location: Ecuadorian super-páramo (>4200 m) Methods: Using species trait data, the maximum dispersal distance of 435 species was calculated. Species distribution models (SDM) were fitted to obtain current and future distribution predictions based on dispersal and bioclimatic factors. The final assemblages for present and 2100 were achieved by stacking all probabilistic SDMs and applying the probability ranking rule. The vulnerability of each sky island was evaluated by quantifying richness and composition changes. Results: Maximum dispersal distances ranged between 0.008-6027 m/year, and across all scenarios, 70% of models showed a net loss in species distribution while 9% of all species were predicted to undergo extinction by 2100. Local richness was estimated to decrease by 56.63% on average, and composition changes in each sky island suggested a mean loss of 64.74% of their original species pool against a 12.97% gain. Finally, 5% of the sky island floras reconverted from high-elevation to low-elevation species. These numbers were usually more important for high-elevation species and the mountains Pichincha, Ilinizas and Antisana. Conclusions: Our study is methodologically pioneer and provides novel insight on the future of páramo biodiversity. Significant losses in species distribution and changes in community richness and composition suggest drastic impacts and call for further study considering additional factors, such as land-use. Finally, we recommend focusing monitoring and conservation strategies on the northern sky islands in priority.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2020View details →

Wind and sand transport across a vegetated foredune [Dataset]

This repository contains the data set of the publication "Wind and sand transport across a vegetated foredune slope" published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. Data is provided, structured according to the figures of the manuscript, provided in the *.mat format, processed in MATLAB 2019b.

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Habitat selection of foraging male Great Snipes on floodplain meadows: importance of proximity to the lek, vegetation cover and bare ground

Drainage of wetlands and agricultural intensification has resulted in serious biodiversity loss in Europe, not least in grasslands. Consequently, many meadow birds have drastically declined, and the habitats they select for breeding currently rely on land management. However, the selection of habitats maintained by agriculture may contribute to reduced fitness and thus remain maladaptive for individuals, which makes conservation challenging. An understanding of the relationships between species' habitat selection, food supply and land management in the context of species' behaviour is therefore crucial for conservation. Lowland populations of Great Snipe Gallinago media are currently declining at a moderate rate, causing a conservation concern. We examined the daytime site selection (assumed as foraging sites) and food supply of radiotracked Great Snipe males breeding on a floodplain in NE Poland. Foraging sites were classified at micro- and macro-scale levels using the logistic regression in a use–availability design. On the microscale level, males selected moderate sward height and density, and a large amount of bare ground patches, and the importance of these increased as the breeding season progressed. On the macro-scale level, these conditions were associated with (1) meadows mown twice per season and grazed thereafter (associated with the most abundant food resources – earthworms) and (2) extensively managed pastures, suggesting the importance of grazing. Abandoned or late-mown meadows under agri-environmental schemes (AES) were avoided by foraging males. However, parcels with delayed mowing offer safe breeding sites for females nesting close to leks, unlike land-use types preferred by foraging males, which may act as an ecological trap. Effective conservation of Great Snipes on floodplain meadows requires precisely targeted AES schemes that will provide a mosaic of intensive and extensive land-use patches in the vicinity of identified leks.

opencc-zeroJun 2021View details →

Data from: Plant community composition steers grassland vegetation via soil legacy effects

Soil legacy effects are commonly highlighted as drivers of plant community dynamics and species co-existence. However, experimental evidence for soil legacy effects of conditioning plant communities on responding plant communities under natural conditions is lacking. We conditioned 192 grassland plots using six different plant communities with different ratios of grasses and forbs and for different durations. Soil microbial legacies were evident for soil fungi, but not for soil bacteria, while soil abiotic parameters did not significantly change in response to conditioning. The soil legacies affected the composition of the succeeding vegetation. Plant communities with different ratios of grasses and forbs left soil legacies that negatively affected succeeding plants of the same functional type. We conclude that fungal-mediated soil legacy effects play a significant role in vegetation assembly of natural plant communities.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Data from: Using a trait-based approach for assessing the vulnerability and resilience of hillslope seep wetland vegetation cover to disturbances in the Tsitsa River catchment, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Hill slope seep wetlands are ecologically and economically important ecosystems as they supply a variety of ecosystem services to society. In South Africa, livestock grazing is recognised as one of the most important disturbance factors changing the structure and function of hill slope seep wetlands. This study sought to investigate the potential effect of livestock grazing on the resilience and vulnerability of hillslope seep wetland vegetation cover using a trait based approach (TBA). Changes in vegetation cover were used as a surrogate for indicating grazing intensity. The degree of human disturbances was assessed using the Anthropogenic Activity Index (AAI). A TBA was developed using seven plant traits, resolved into 27 trait attributes. Based on the developed approach, plant species were grouped into vulnerable and resilient groups in relation to grazing pressure. It was then predicted that species belonging to the vulnerable group would be less dominant at the highly disturbed sites, as well as in the winter season when grazing pressure is at its peak. The approach developed enabled accurate predictions of the responses of hillslope plant species to grazing pressure seasonally, but spatially, only for the summer season. The predicted responses during the winter season across sites did not match the observed results, which could be attributed to the difficulty in species identification and accurate estimation of vegetation cover during winter. Overall, the approach developed here provides a general framework for applying the TBA and can thus be tested and applied elsewhere.

opencc-zeroJan 2021View details →

Data from: Changes in levels of enzymes and osmotic adjustment compounds in key species and their relevance to vegetation succession in abandoned croplands of a semiarid sandy region

Reclamation of cropland from grassland is regarded as a main reason for grassland degradation; understanding succession from abandoned cropland to grassland is thus crucial for vegetation restoration in arid and semiarid areas. Soil becomes dry when cropland is reverted to grassland, and enzyme and osmotic adjustment compounds may help plants to adapt to a drying environment. Croplands that were abandoned in various years on the Ordos Plateau in China, were selected for the analysis of the dynamics of enzymes and osmotic adjustment compounds in plant species during vegetation succession. With increasing number of years since abandonment, levels of superoxide dismutase increased in Stipa bungeana, first decreased and then increased in Lespedeza davurica and Artemisia frigida, and fluctuated in Heteropappus altaicus. Levels of peroxidase and catalase in the four species fluctuated; levels of proline, soluble sugar and soluble protein either decreased or first increased and then generally decreased. According to a drought resistance index, the drought resistance of the four species was ranked in descending order as follows: S. bungeana > A. frigida > H. altaicus > L. davurica. The drought resistance ability of the different species was closely linked with vegetation succession from communities dominated by annual and biennial species (with main accompanying species of L. davurica and H. altaicus) to communities dominated by perennial species (S. bungeana and A. frigida) when soil became dry owing to increasing evapotranspiration after cropland abandonment. The restoration of S. bungeana steppe after cropland abandonment on the Ordos Plateau is recommended both as high-quality forage and for environmental sustainability.

Effects of different vegetation drag parameterizations on the tidal propagation in coastal marshlands - 2DLM simulation results

This 2DLM.zip file contains the results of in total 12 idealized tidal flooding simulations using MPAS-Ocean, with the vegetation drag resolved by the 2 Dimensional Landcover-type-determined Manning (2DLM) parameterization. The zip file has 3 folders and 4 files in each folder. Each file is named by a marsh type considered in a simulation, and each folder is named by a tidal amplitude (in meter) that drives the simulations.

Effects of different vegetation drag parameterizations on the tidal propagation in coastal marshlands - 3DFV simulation results

This 3DFV.zip file contains the results of in total 15 idealized tidal flooding simulations using MPAS-Ocean, with the vegetation drag resolved by the 3 Dimensional Flexible Vegetation (3DFV) parameterization. The zip file has 3 folders and 5 files in each folder. Each file is named by a vegetation aboveground biomass (in g m-2) considered in a simulation, and each folder is named by a tidal amplitude (in meter) that drives the simulations.

Effects of different vegetation drag parameterizations on the tidal propagation in coastal marshlands - 3DSV simulation results

This 3DSV.zip file contains the results of in total 15 idealized tidal flooding simulations using MPAS-Ocean, with the vegetation drag resolved by the 3 Dimensional Stiff Vegetation (3DSV) parameterization. The zip file has 3 folders and 5 files in each folder. Each file is named by a vegetation aboveground biomass (in g m-2) in a simulation, and each folder is named by a tidal amplitude (in meter) that drives the simulations.

Effects of different vegetation drag parameterizations on the tidal propagation in coastal marshlands - 2DVM simulation results

This 2DVM.zip file contains the results of in total 15 idealized tidal flooding simulations using MPAS-Ocean, with the vegetation drag resolved by the 2 Dimensional Vegetation-determined Manning (2DVM) parameterization. The zip file has 3 folders and 5 files in each folder. Each file is named by a vegetation aboveground biomass (in g m-2) considered in a simulation, and each folder is named by a tidal amplitude (in meter) that drives the simulations.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Functional responses of aquatic and riparian vegetation to hydrogeomorphic restoration of channelized lowland streams and their valleys

1. Streams and riparian zones are highly heterogeneous ecosystems. Their high biodiversity is promoted by variable flow velocities and water depths, strong hydrological gradients and disturbance regimes. However, human interventions like damming and channelization have degraded these ecosystems worldwide. And, although restoration efforts have increased in the past decades, ecological improvement is lagging. 2. We assessed vegetation development in channelized lowland stream valleys in the Netherlands, combining innovative restoration measures to the stream and stream valleys. This 'stream valley restoration' entailed construction of narrower and shallower channels to increase flow velocities during base discharges, meandering of the watercourse to increase flow and depth heterogeneity and excavation of banks to create wide v-shaped stream valleys. We evaluated the effects on functional aspects of the developing in-stream and riparian vegetation by comparing restored stream reaches to nearby unrestored reaches. 3. The reduced channel dimensions led to higher flow velocities, which, through interaction with meandering, triggered a higher variability in flow and depth. Combined with enlargement of the floodplain, this promoted flooding in stream valleys and created wider environmental gradients. Plant diversity strongly increased in the floodplain area, the land-water interface and the shallow water habitat at the channel margins, but decreased in the central parts of stream channels. There, higher flow velocities led to more typically lotic (running water) in-stream plant communities, indicated by a sharp decrease in floating-leaved species and an increase in trailing species. Riparian vegetation showed a higher beta-diversity across the wider valley slopes of restored reaches, with more wetland species in areas with water tables between 0.0 and -0.6 m, and more upland species as well. 4. Synthesis and applications. This study demonstrates that the combination of strongly reduced channel dimensions, remeandering and widening of riparian zones, is effective in restoring in-stream and riparian habitat heterogeneity. The restoration efforts lead to distinct immediate increases in total and beta-diversity of many typical stream and riparian plant species. Overall, this stresses the importance of applying restoration measures to both streams and stream valleys simultaneously, considering them as a single landscape unit. 27-Nov-2018

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Concordance in wetland physicochemical conditions, vegetation, and surrounding land cover is robust to data extraction approach

Concordance among wetland physicochemical conditions, vegetation, and surrounding land cover may result from the influence of land cover on the sources of plant propagules, on physicochemical conditions, and their subsequent determination of growing conditions. Alternatively, concordance may result if differences in climate, soils, and species pools are spatially confounded with differences in human population density and land conversion. Further, we expect that land cover within catchment boundaries will be more predictive than land cover in symmetrical buffers if runoff is a major pathway. We measured concordance between land cover, wetland vegetation and physicochemical conditions in 48 prairie pothole wetlands, controlling for inter-wetland distance. We contrasted land-cover data collected over a four-year period by multiple extraction approaches including topographically-delineated catchments and nested 30 m to 5,000 m radius buffers. After factoring out inter-wetland distance, physiochemical conditions were significantly concordant with land cover. Vegetation was not significantly concordant with land cover, though it was strongly and significantly concordant with physicochemical conditions. More, concordance was as strong when land cover was extracted from buffers <500 m in radius as from catchments, indicating the mechanism responsible is not topographically constrained. We conclude that local landscape structure does not directly influence wetland vegetation composition, but rather that vegetation depends on physicochemical conditions in the wetland (which are affected by surrounding land cover) and on regional factors such as the vegetation species pool and geographic gradients in climate, soil type, and land use.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: From pristine forests to high-altitude pastures: an ecological approach to prehistoric human impact on vegetation and landscapes in the western Italian Alps

1. This paper addresses the origin and development of the oldest prehistoric pasture in the timberline ecotone known so far in the Alps and its relation to anthropogenic pressure and natural climate change. 2. Paleoecological and geochemical techniques were applied on the Crotte Basse mire stratigraphy (2365 m asl, western Italy) to describe changes in vegetation composition, forest biomass, land use and fertilization between ca. 6400 - 1800 yrs cal BP. 3. Subalpine forests dominated by Pinus cembra occurred at very high-altitude up to ca. 5600 yrs cal BP, when a sharp contraction of woody vegetation took place. This major vegetation shift is matched by increasing charcoal input and markers of pastoral/grazing activities (pollen, dung spores, and forms of phosphorus) in the sediment sequence in this small basin. 4. Major phases of landscape change detected in our multiproxy record chronologically match intervals of cumulative probability density of 14C ages from nearby archaeological sites, suggesting that human activity was the factor leading to massive landscape change from the onset of the Copper Age (ca. 5600 yrs cal BP). The change may have been reinforced by climate variability in the period 5700 - 5300 years cal BP. 5. Sensitivity of woody species to fires was statistically explored (Appendix S3 in Supporting Information), revealing negative reactions of Pinus cembra and Betula to frequent fire episodes and positive reactions of Alnus viridis and Juniperus. Fire episodes do not affect Larix dynamics. 6. Synthesis: Mt. Fallère provides some of the oldest and consistent evidence so far available in the Alps for major anthropogenic pressure at the upper forest limit. As far back as 5600 cal years BP, high-elevation forest ecosystems were permanently disrupted and the alpine pastures were created. Palaeoecological data enable a clear distinction between a random and sporadic use of the alpine space, typical for Mesolithic and Neolithic societies, and an organized seasonal exploitation of natural resources, starting from the Copper Age onwards. The chronological comparison of independent climate proxies, paleoecological information and pollen-based temperature reconstructions sheds light on the relationships between climate and humans since prehistoric times.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Thresholds and gradients in a semi-arid grassland: long-term grazing treatments induce slow, continuous and reversible vegetation change

1. Temporal changes in semi-arid ecosystems can include transitions between alternative stable states, involving thresholds and multiple domains of attraction, but can also include relatively continuous, symmetric and reversible shifts within a single stable state. Conceptual state-and-transition models (STMs) describe both types of ecosystem dynamics by including state transitions (plant community changes difficult-to-reverse without substantial input or effort) and phase shifts (easily reversible community changes) as consequences of management practices and environmental variability. Grazing management is purported to be the primary driver of state transitions in current STMs for North American grasslands, but there is limited empirical evidence from these grasslands showing that grazing can cause difficult-to-reverse transitions between alternate stable states. 2 .In a northern mixed-grass prairie in Wyoming, USA, we examined plant community responses to (i) long-term (33-year) grazing intensity treatments (none, light, moderate and heavy stocking rates) and (ii) 8 years of light or no grazing in pastures that were grazed heavily for the previous 25 years. 3. Long-term grazing treatments were associated with distinct, but not stable, plant communities. From year 22 to 33, heavier stocking rates decreased cover of dominant C3 grasses and increased cover of the dominant C4 grass Bouteloua gracilis. 4. Reversing stocking rates from heavy to light or no grazing resulted in reversal of changes induced by prior heavy stocking for dominant C3 grasses, but not for B. gracilis. For both groups, rates of change following grazing treatment reversals were consistent with rates of change during the initial years of the experiment (1982–1990). 5. Synthesis and applications. In a semi-arid rangeland with a long evolutionary history of grazing, different long-term grazing intensity treatments caused slow, continuous, and directional changes with important management implications, but did not appear to induce alternative stable states. For this and similar ecosystems, quantifying the time-scales and compositional gradients associated with key phase shifts may be more important than identifying thresholds between alternative stable states.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Consequences of grazer-induced vegetation transitions on ecosystem carbon storage in the tundra

1. Large herbivores can control plant community composition and, under certain conditions, even induce vegetation shifts to alternative ecosystem states. As different plant assemblages maintain contrasting carbon (C) cycling patterns, herbivores have the potential to alter C sequestration at regional scales. Their influence is of particular interest in the Arctic tundra, where a large share of the world's soil C reservoir is stored. 2. We analysed how grazing mammals influence tundra vegetation and how grazer-induced vegetation shifts affect tundra C stocks, by resampling two sites located along pasture rotation fences in northern Norway. These fences have separated lightly grazed areas from heavily grazed areas (in close proximity to the fences) and moderately grazed areas (further away from the fences) for the past 50 years. 14 years earlier, the lightly and moderately grazed areas were dominated by dwarf shrubs, whereas heavy grazing had promoted the establishment of graminoid-dominated vegetation. Since then, both reindeer densities and temperatures have increased, and more time has passed for transient dynamics to be expressed. We expected that the vegetation and C stocks would have changed under all grazing intensities, but not necessarily in the same way. 3. At the site where relative reindeer numbers and trampling intensity had increased the most, graminoid-dominated vegetation was now also found in the moderately grazed area. At the other site, the dominant vegetation types under all grazing intensities were the same as 14 years earlier. 4. We show that the heavily grazed, graminoid-dominated, areas stored less C aboveground than the lightly grazed, shrub-dominated, areas. Yet, the belowground consequences of grazing-induced grassification varied between the sites: Grazing did not alter organic soil C stocks at the site where both evergreen and deciduous shrubs were abundant in the lightly grazed area, whereas heavy grazing increased organic soil C stocks at the site where the deciduous shrub Betula nana was dominant. 5. Our results indicate that despite the negative impacts of grazers on aboveground C storage, their impact on belowground C may even be positive. We suggest that the site-specific responses of organic soil C stocks to grazing could be explained by the differences in vegetation under light grazing. This would imply that the replacement of deciduous shrubs by graminoids, as a consequence of grazing, could be beneficial for C sequestration in tundra soils.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: High-productivity vegetation is important for lessening bird declines during prolonged drought

1.Locations in which ecological assemblages show high resistance to climate pressures, such as drought, are likely to be important refuges for biota in changing climates. We asked whether environmental characteristics of locations were associated with the capacity of bird assemblages to withstand prolonged drought. 2.We used a multi-species index to quantify trends in bird assemblages during a 13-year drought at >500 locations (>18,000 surveys) in the Murray-Darling Basin, south eastern Australia, using data from the Atlas of Australian Birds. We investigated whether the resistance of bird assemblages was associated with: (1) vegetation structure; (2) vegetation productivity (vegetation greenness); (3) landscape context (patch size, landscape vegetation cover); or (4) physical environment (elevation, terrain, topography, availability of surface water). 3.Vegetation productivity, measured by vegetation greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), was the only potential predictor with strong evidence of an effect, and was positively associated with the index of drought resistance. There was little evidence that variables characterising landscape context, vegetation structure or the physical environment of sites were associated with drought resistance of bird communities. 4.Synthesis and applications. Bird assemblages in locations with high vegetation greenness are more resistant to severe drought. Prioritizing conservation investments in areas with locally high vegetation productivity is likely to be an effective strategy for increasing the resistance of bird assemblages to extreme drought, especially in areas where mean productivity is relatively low, such as arid and semi-arid regions. Remotely sensed vegetation greenness may be a promising source of information for identifying drought refuges for birds and possibly other biota.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Natural vegetation benefits synergistic control of the three main insect and pathogen pests of fruit crop in southern Africa

1. Most studies of the potential for natural habitat to improve agricultural productivity have been conducted in transformed, temperate regions, but little is known of the importance of agroecosystem services in biodiverse developing countries. 2. Natural vegetation may promote the density and/or diversity of natural enemies of crop pests, but the strength of the effect varies, and few studies directly measure concurrent impacts on pest density. Considering multiple pest species within the same agroecosystem may help explain why some pests are more affected than others by landscape complexity. Here, we investigated multiple pest species (three species of Tephritidae fruit fly, leaf galling flies and pathogenic fungi Fusarium spp.) and their enemies in cultivated mango Mangifera indica, in north-eastern South Africa. 3. The density of generalist Tephritidae fruit flies increased with distance from natural vegetation during harvesting months, and predation rate of pupae sharply decreased from ~50% at the edge with natural vegetation to 0% at 250 m into the crop. Parasitism rates of the cryptic, gall-forming fly increased with proximity to natural vegetation, but pest density was unrelated to distance from natural vegetation. Incidence of the fungal pathogen disease increased with distance from natural vegetation, possibly due to decreased predation of commensal mites. 4. Although the relationship with distance to natural vegetation was significant for all species considered, the strength of this relationship varied across pest species and type of natural enemy studied, suggesting the benefits of natural vegetation depend on each natural enemy species' ability to disperse into the agricultural environment. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that natural vegetation is a net source of natural enemies in a region of South Africa that still contains much of its natural biodiversity. However, the decline in natural enemies, and increase in pests, with distance from natural habitat indicates that this biocontrol is limited by natural enemy dispersal. In landscapes like these that are still dominated by natural habitat, conservation biocontrol can still be improved by management aimed at providing corridors of key plants and habitat elements into the crops, to facilitate natural enemy dispersal.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Complex genetic effects on early vegetative development shape resource allocation differences between Arabidopsis lyrata populations

Costs of reproduction due to resource allocation trade-offs have long been recognized as key forces in life history evolution, but little is known about their functional or genetic basis. Arabidopsis lyrata, a perennial relative of the annual model plant A. thaliana with a wide climatic distribution, has populations that are strongly diverged in resource allocation. In this study, we evaluated the genetic and functional basis for variation in resource allocation in a reciprocal transplant experiment, using four A. lyrata populations and F2 progeny from a cross between North Carolina (USA) and Norway parents, which had the most divergent resource allocation patterns. Local alleles at quantitative trait loci (QTL) at a North Carolina field site increased reproductive output while reducing vegetative growth. These QTL had little overlap with flowering date QTL. Structural equation models incorporating QTL genotypes and traits indicated that resource allocation differences result primarily from QTL effects on early vegetative growth patterns, with cascading effects on later vegetative and reproductive development. At a Norway field site, North Carolina alleles at some of the same QTL regions reduced survival and reproductive output components, but these effects were not associated with resource allocation trade-offs in the Norway environment. Our results indicate that resource allocation in perennial plants may involve important adaptive mechanisms largely independent of flowering time. Moreover, the contributions of resource allocation QTL to local adaptation appear to result from their effects on developmental timing and its interaction with environmental constraints, and not from simple models of reproductive costs.

opencc-zeroApr 2020View details →

Soil organic carbon in drylands: shrub encroachment and vegetation management effects dwarf those of livestock grazing

Dryland ecosystems occur worldwide and play a prominent, but potentially shifting, role in global biogeochemical cycling. Widespread woody plant proliferation, often associated with declines in palatable grasses, has jeopardized livestock production in drylands and prompted attempts to reduce woody cover by chemical or mechanical means. Woody encroachment also has the potential to significantly alter terrestrial carbon storage. However, little is known of the long-term biogeochemical consequences of woody encroachment in the broader context of its interaction with common dryland land uses, including "brush management" (woody plant clearing) and livestock grazing. Present assessments exhibit considerable variation in the consequences of these land use/land cover changes, with evidence that brush management may counteract sizeable impacts of shrub encroachment on soil biogeochemical pools. A challenge to assessing the net effects of brush management in shrub-encroached grasslands on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) pools is that land management practices are typically considered in isolation, when they are co-occurring phenomena. Furthermore, few studies have assessed spatial patterns in brush management and how these are affected in decades following treatment on sites with contrasting grazing histories. To address these uncertainties and interactions, we quantified the impacts of shrub encroachment and their subsequent mortality resulting from brush management (herbicide application) on SOC and N pools in a Sonoran Desert grassland where long-term grazing manipulations (>100 y) co-occur with shrub encroachment and brush management. Pools of SOC and N associated with herbicided shrubs declined markedly over ~40 years, offsetting 66% of the increases from shrub encroachment. However, spatial patterns in SOC induced by shrubs persisted over the decades following brush management. Century-long protection from grazing did little to change SOC and N pools. Accordingly, shrub encroachment and shrub mortality from brush management each far outweighed livestock grazing impacts. Consideration of the patterns of SOC and N through space (e.g., bole-to-dripline gradients), time (e.g., shrub age/size), land use (e.g., livestock grazing and brush management) and their interactions will position us to improve predictions of SOC and N responses to land use/land cover change, inform C-based management decisions, and objectively evaluate trade-offs with other ecosystem services.