Hi Dave,
Yes, it really was a shame we missed each other by just one day last summer. (When you were at the WW&F I was two hours north in Franklin County exploring the SR&RL!) Please let me know the next time you're back in the Northeast so maybe we can coordinate and avoid that kind of near miss in the future. It would be fun to meet and talk in person.
My own grad school research was on historical changes in the vegetation of New England from the time of the first European settlers to the modern day, so this stuff is right up my alley. In a parallel situation to what you describe in the Southwest, a number of European grasses and forbs appear to have arrived in eastern North America with cattle brought over from England in the 1600s.
-Philip Marshall
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2015 10:09PM by philip.marshall.