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 long period. It is most likely that the decline in size represents individual plants shrinking in size resulting from the death of shoot systems, 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 desertification process that accompanies the conversion of grasslands into shrublands.