References Fitter, A.H., et al., 1999. Root production and turnover in an upland grassland subjected to artificial soil warming respond to radiation flux and nutrients, not temperature. Lloyd, J., 1999. Xiao, X., et al., 1998. Transient climate change and net ecosystem production of the terrestrial biosphere.
Most people think of the Industrial Revolution as a turning point in human efficiency.
But it is also an important milestone in natural efficiency. A change in flora makes possible an expansion of fauna to areas they previously could not inhabit. Mesquite trees, for example, invaded the desert southwest throughout the last century, changing the landscape and the animals within it. At the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Arizona, Lloyd and colleagues examined a variety of vegetation variables and found that the density and distribution of mesquite trees had the greatest impact on bird populations. They found that the density and level of grazing of grasses did not affect the emergence or survival of honey mesquite seedlings, regardless of soil moisture provided for the plants.