SIZE DECLINE IN LARREA-TRIDENTATA (CREOSOTEBUSH)

This study documents a dramatic decline in size of individuals within a Larrea tridentata population in southern new Mexico over a decade lo ng period. It is most likely that the decline in size represents indiv idual plants shrinking in size resulting from the death of shoot syste ms, especially the larger branches within these multi-stemmed shrubs. We suggest. that the decline in size observed in our study area may be the initial stages of a more widespread phenomenon, driven by the des ertification process that accompanies the conversion of grasslands int o shrublands.