The Impact of Historic Fuelwood Cutting on the Semidesert Woodlands of Southeastern Arizona

Abstract

D uring the past century, major vegetation changes have occurred in the semidesert lands of southeastern Arizona. Among the changes have been the elimination of many native riparian forests, the introduction of vigorous exotics, local expansion of some natives, clearing of vast areas of scrub desert, modification of the composition of grasslands, alterations in regional fire ecology, and major structural changes in the woodlands. These changes usually are attributed to climatic shifts, cycles in rodent populations, grazing, groundwater withdrawal, and fire suppression.1 Despite the significance of these agents, the effects of most historic land uses on the vegetation have not been completely identified, nor have the land uses themselves been subjected to detailed analysis. This is remarkable, since most of the documented vegetation changes have occurred in the past one hundred years, the period of greatest influx of Anglo-Americans into the region. From a wide range of historic land-use activities that have modified the vegetation, such as grazing, agricultural clearing, woodcutting, groundwater withdrawal, urban de-