LONG-TERM SOIL AND VEGETATION RECOVERY IN FIVE SEMIARID MONTANA GHOST TOWNS* |
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| Authors: | Paul A Knapp |
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| Institution: | PAUL A. KNAPP (Ph.D. 1989, University of Georgia) is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557. His primary resarch interests are in biogeography and arid lands. |
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| Abstract: | Five semiarid Montana ghost towns abandoned for more than 45 years were studied to understand better the nature of soil and vegetation recovery following severe human impacts. Discriminant analysis was used to interpret and classify variation among land-use intensity groups. Recovery at the five towns was strongly linked to the degree of the initial soil disturbance, vegetation type, and precipitation. Recovery of the vegetation to ambient conditions was far from complete in all but one town. |
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| Keywords: | vegetation recovery soil recovery semiarid Montana discriminant analysis |
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