MULDAVIN, ESTEBAN H. New Mexico Natural Heritage Program, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131. - Some floristic characteristics of the northern Chihuahuan Desert: a search for its northern boundary.
The floristic characteristics that define the northern Chihuahuan
Desert are explored using indirect and direct ordinations. The
floristic, geographical and environmental data from a large releve
dataset are used to evaluate species distributions within the
Chihuahuan Desert and across to the adjacent Short Grass Steppe and
Colorado Plateau ecoregions. The focus is on delineating more
precisely the floristic boundaries between these provinces and
extracting pertinent ecological and geographical information about key
indicator species.
Key words: Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua gracilis, Chihuanhuan Desert, indicator species, Larrea tridentata, ordination