Plant Associations of Arizona and New Mexico: Forests
Description:... "Forests and woodlands are naturally complex and diverse ecosystems and, therefore, difficult to thoroughly understand or predict changes which may result from management activities or natural vegetation development over time. This classification of forests and woodlands allows us to make general statements about observations in one site and apply the knowledge learned to other sites of the same plant association. The recognition of plant associations (habitat types) provides one system of classification, based on potential natural vegetation. The core classification level are the plant associations which are nested in sub-series and series levels. Occasionally plant associations are subdivided into phases, particularly, when there is as wide geographic distribution. These habitat type classifications have been in use in Arizona and New Mexico for over three decades; during this time, managers have observed that similar responses to disturbances and vegetation development can be expected on different site locations sharing the same or closely associated habitat type classifications. As a result, this classification system has become a valuable and trusted tool for management planning and implementation of vegetation treatments in forests and woodlands in the Southwestern United States. This publication describes the known plant associations for forests and woodlands in Arizona and New Mexico. Many sources were utilized to compile these descriptions, but the primary sources for this edition are updates to edition 3, which was derived from three regional habitat typing guides developed by the Forest Service in 1986 and 1987. This book is divided into three parts. The introductory material will provide background information on interpreting the descriptions, recent nomenclature changes for plants, and a key to the plant associations. The second and largest section is the descriptions for each plant association. The appendices include a bibliography, a synonymy list of plant name changes, and a list of plants mentioned in the descriptions. A companion document titled "Plant Associations of Arizona and New Mexico Volume 3: Potential Vegetation, Ecological Linkages, and Tools for Management Planning" has been developed as a reference to document ecological linkages to other classification systems, historical conditions, and inferences for management planning."--
Show description