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| Elephants and giraffe browse on acacia trees. Acacia and Mesquite are examples of co-evolution where two different staring points converge to a similar endpoint due to similar selection pressure. |
In relatively short order, most of those large species were wiped out. The survival adaptations that protected them from short-faced bears, wolves, large felines and other predators proved insufficient to protect the from humans who were capable of planned hunts, use of fire and shafts tipped with chipped stone points.
One consequence of that mass extinction is that some plant species, like mesquite, can spread into areas where they were formerly rare or non-existent. That has dire consequences for the water table. (hat-tip OldNFO)
A partial list of extinct mega-fauna that roamed the areas where mesquite (Prosopis) now grows:
- Large Headed Llama (Hemiauchenia macrocephala)
- American Camel (Camelops hesternus) estimated 7' at the shoulder!
- 13 species of Pronghorn
- Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
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| Graphic by FunkMonk. Columbian Mammoth is in blue. Human for scale on left. |
- American Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
- New-world Horse
Without these browsers and without fire to control seedings, Mesquite has been spreading.
It is idle speculation, but one must wonder if elk (wapiti) could make a dent in mesquite if it were regularly cut. Elk can graze more selectively than cattle because they have a narrower mouth and they are significantly taller than most cows. Consequently, they could reach past the thorns and eat more leaves and its greater height would delay the "break-out" where the leaves cannot be reached.
It would be very cool to have wapiti wandering the Texas plains.
A more out-of-the-box solution would be to import giraffes and elephants and stop controlling feral(Old-World species) camel populations. Perhaps there is a niche market for those meats given the recent immigration from northern Africa. Tree-huggers would have a fit because they envision returning the wild to a pre-Columbian state. My proposal would return it to the pre-Columbian - 12,000 year state.
One way to pitch the concept is to suggest that elephants and giraffes would reduce the number of drunks returning from spontaneous four-wheeling expeditions across the range.
Bonus link: Feedipedia, list of trees that provide forage
I read that earlier comment about the mesquite, it caught me totally off guard. I have 000 experience with that tree.
ReplyDeleteIs it that the tree lowers the water table? A simple Google search didn't answer that question to my satisfaction.
Or more likely is man screwing up the recharging of the water system thus lowering the water table by channeling runoff away from his areas of influence, and thus creating an environment only the mesquite will survive in?
A Mexican I know well grew up along a river in central Mexico their father grew corn and melons on many acres, enough to support a large family.
The river is now dry, no one grows anything there now.
Man plays a bigger role in desertification than he wants to admit.
I can see how four -wheeling drunks could be reduced by elephants but they would just drive under the giraffes. Some of those mammoths would sure help with those drunk snowmobilers though if someone could clone them. --ken
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure wapiti could handle hot conditions. They tend to go up mountains when it gets hot in their normal range.
ReplyDeleteGiven how people have responded to wild horses, I doubt you'll get any support to slaughter any wild mammal.
That may be due to chasing forage
Deletehttps://m.facebook.com/groups/307577116010963/permalink/4181248848643751/
ReplyDeleteA guy posted a pecan orchard along the Rio Grande. I said that must be why it is a trickle. He said,
"Lucas Machias that's not the reason. The reason is more complex but starts with the forests of Southern Colorado's watershed for the Rio Grande being overgrown with trees. When you have too many trees the snow gets hung up in the foliage and instead of melting and recharging the soil moisture, it evaporates, never to run down the river. The second reason is the amount of snow that falls on the ski areas also is lost to evaporation and again fails to melt and flow down the river. A third reason is the Salt Cedar - Tamarask that sucks up huge amounts of water from the groundwater of the river flood plain. Years ago I knew a hydrologist that did all the early hydrology work on Albuquerque's water for the U.S. Geological Survey and he calculated that the amount of water being used by the Tamarix - Saltcedar, from Albuquerque south to El Paso was about the same as what the entire Los Angelas metro used."
LOL like withdrawals had nothing to do with it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk#Behavior_and_ecology
ReplyDeleteWapiti are grazers not browsers. They were a plains animal before colonization.
The stuff makes beautiful furniture and terrific firewood, but is otherwise sent from hell. Long thorns at ground level to puncture any tire, sometimes even go straight through a boot sole. You can use D-9+ dozers and a root plow to take it up (root plow and chain), extremely expensive. It poisons the soil within its dripline so no grasses can grow. The bane of ranchers across South and West Texas.
ReplyDeleteUsed to go into the ranch land north of Amarillo and collect mesquite to use in the BBQ grill. We would use wood instead of charcoal. Often you could find a large pile where the ranchers had bulldozed a piece of land. Otherwise you just picked up what had fallen off due to the winds and weather. Best of all it was free. You needed good gloves and had to pay attention. It makes blackberry thorns look like nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe mesquite and salt cedar are responsible for significantly reducing the flow of the Canadian river in New Mexico and Texas.
Mesquite and Saltcedar ARE the two plants responsible for the lowering of the water table in north Texas. Texas A&M has done a lot of research into getting rid of mesquite. https://texnat.tamu.edu/about/brush-busters/mesquite/
ReplyDeleteCattle eat mesquite, but pass the beans straight through so they are dropped fully fertilized in the cow pies. You can trace the expansion to the movement of herds of cattle. Research done at Palo Duro shows water running out of springs on the sides of the canyon before the mesquite came in. Now, there is one small stream down the middle of the canyon and that is it.
Thanks for the heads up.
DeleteI have several small ones in pots from wild seed.
It seems they make a good flour and the cattle here eat the entire crop.
But I like water.......
Old NFO, thanks for remembrance on the Cedar as well as the Mesquite. That is what I recall as well.
DeleteThere used to be a spring in Palo Duro Canyon that was piped to a turnout on the main road. It dried up around 40 years ago. Stream down middle is Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.
DeleteI miss the days when I was 50 years younger climbing around all over that canyon.
It's always an interesting discussion when people want to return a particular landscape to _________ point in time (insert historical period of your choice). Landscapes are always changing and succession is always taking place due to human and animal impacts, weather, catastrophes, etc. Who's to say what the magical point in history is that a landscape should be returned to?
ReplyDelete