DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Prosopis velutina | Velvet Mesquite 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The main distribution of velvet mesquite is confined to central and
southern Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent northern
Mexico [56,73].  The eastern boundary of its range is near the
Continental Divide in southern New Mexico [115].  The Continental Divide
forms a natural boundary between populations of velvet mesquite and
honey mesquite (var. uncertain) [115].  In California, velvet mesquite
is represented by only a few individuals that occur in Imperial,
Riverside, and Kern counties [57].  This population is believed to be
from human introductions.  A small, isolated population occurs in the
Rio Grande Valley, near El Paso, Texas [65], that is also thought to be
introduced.


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES33  Southwestern shrubsteppe
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES40  Desert grasslands


STATES : 
     AZ  CA  NM  TX


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     CAGR  FOBO  ORPI  SAGU


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   12  Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K027  Mesquite bosque
   K031  Oak - juniper woodland
   K033  Chaparral
   K042  Creosote bush - bursage
   K043  Palo verde - cactus shrub
   K044  Creosote bush - tarbush
   K046  Desert: vegetation largely lacking
   K058  Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   241  Western live oak
   242  Mesquite


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Velvet mesquite occurs in low elevation vegetation types, including
paloverde (Cercidium microphyllum)-bursage (Franseria deltoidea) cacti
(Opuntia spp.), desert grasslands, oak woodlands, and pinyon-juniper
(Pinus edulis-Juniperus spp.) woodlands [55].  In desert grasslands, it
may be found in high enough densities to form "brushy ranges", but in
the other vegetation types it is generally found as scattered
individuals.  Along major water coarses and their tributaries, however,
deciduous woodlands or "bosques" are often dominated by velvet mesquite.

Shrubby associates in desert grasslands include viscid acacia (Acacia
vernicosa), whitethorn acacia (A. constricta), catclaw acacia (A.
greggii), graythorn Condalia lycoides), ironwood (Olneya tesota),
burroweed (Haplopappus tenuisectus), hackberries (Celtis spp.), tarbush
(Flourensia cernua), and paloverde [15,30,55].  In drainage basins,
velvet mesquite often occurs in relatively pure stands of tobosa grass
(Hilaria mutica).  On heavy-textured upland soils, velvet mesquite
occurs in pure stands of tobosa or sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) [30].

Velvet mesquite is often interspersed in low elevation oak woodlands
dominated by Emory oak Quercus emoryi), Mexican blue oak (Q.
oblongifolia) and Arizona white oak (Q. arizonica) [55]. 

Mesquite bosques were typically open and parklike.  Velvet mesquite
often forms nearly pure stands in these riparian situations but may also
be interspersed with other trees and shrubs such as netleaf hackberry
(Celtis reticulata), wolfberry (Lycium spp.), Mexican elder (Sambucus
mexicana), Southwestern condalia (Condalia obovata), and fourwing
saltbush (Atriplex canescens) [30,87,93].  The understory was
historically dominated by vine mesquite grass (Panicum obtusum),
careless weed (Amaranthus palmeri), and in saline areas, by saltbushes
(Atriplex spp.).  Today, because of grazing and other disturbances, many
bosques have been invaded by introduced grasses and forbs, including
cutleaf filaree (Erodium cicutarium), mustard (Sisymbrium irio), red
brome (Bromus rubens), and schismus (Schismus barbatus) [86].

Related categories for Species: Prosopis velutina | Velvet Mesquite