David Bainbridge Presents: Mesquite, a Multipurpose Tree Crop for Agroforestry in the SW

Mesquite is a valuable multi-purpose tree crop well suited for agroforestry in the American Southwest. The pods are edible and useful for fodder. Mesquite was a critical food for native people. The flowers are favored by bees. The hardwood is suitable for many purposes and makes excellent charcoal. Mesquite is a self-fertilizing tree and fixation rates can be high, associated with very deep roots. Roots have been found 46 m deep - a good case for carbon sequestration. Trees are long-lived and can grow to considerable size. Growth can be rapid with water availability. Mesquite can survive remarkable levels of drought stress and resume growing when it rains. Mesquite trees are also tolerant of fire and resprout readily in agroforestry settings.

Our presenter, David Bainbridge, grew up in the West. He started research and consulting in dryland restoration in 1981 on the family ranch in Colorado and continued this work at UC Riverside, San Diego State and Alliant International University until retiring in 2010. His special focus was on agroforestry and understanding the impacts of disturbance on root development, site remediation and super-efficient irrigation for remote sites. Author of A Guide to Desert and Dryland Restoration (2007), dozens of papers on dryland and desert restoration- see http://bepress.com/david_a_bainbridge/ and Gardening with Less Water (2015). In 2020 his two volume environmental history of the fur trade in the West was