Dynamics of Mojave Desert Shrub Assemblages in the Panamint Mountains, California

We studied shrub communities in the Panamint Mountains of the Mojave Desert to determine whether vegetational changes after disturbance can be characterized as "succession" according to modern successional theory. We found, on a variety of disturbed and undisturbed sites, that the rate of change was a function of the type and age of disturbance.