Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment
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MMoojjaavvee DDeesseerrtt EEccoorreeggiioonnaall AAsssseessssmmeenntt Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment September 2010 Version 1.1 The Nature Conservancy of California 201 Mission Street, 4th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Planning Team John M. Randall Sophie S. Parker James Moore Brian Cohen Laura Crane Bill Christian Dick Cameron Jason B. Mackenzie Kirk Klausmeyer Scott Morrison The Mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Cover photographs by James Moore and Bill Christian © 2010 Recommended Citation: Randall, J. M., S.S. Parker, J. Moore, B. Cohen, L. Crane, B. Christian, D. Cameron, J. MacKenzie, K. Klausmeyer and S. Morrison. 2010. Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment. Unpublished Report. The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California. 106 pages + appendices. Available at: http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/mojave/documents/mojave-desert- ecoregional-2010/@@view.html. Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment Table of Contents List of Tables ...........................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... viii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ ix 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment Purpose and Approach .............................................3 1.1.1 Overview of the Ecoregional Assessment Approach.........................................................4 1.1.2 Distinguishing Areas of Conservation Value....................................................................5 1.1.3 Climate Change Adaptation Analysis...............................................................................8 1.2 Limitations on this Assessment................................................................................................8 1.3 Products of the Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment..........................................................9 2 The Study Area................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Ecoregion Boundaries and Subregions ..................................................................................10 2.1.1 Trans-boundary Connectivity..........................................................................................10 2.2 Ecological History and Current Vegetative Communities.....................................................10 2.3 Geomorphology......................................................................................................................13 2.4 Current Climate.....................................................................................................................14 2.5 Hydrology ...............................................................................................................................14 2.6 Land-Use History....................................................................................................................16 2.7 Current Land Ownership.......................................................................................................17 2.8 Conservation Management Status .........................................................................................18 3 Conservation Values of the Mojave Desert Ecoregion .......................................................... 23 3.1 Ecological Significance of the Mojave Desert ........................................................................23 3.2 Animal Diversity and Rare and Listed Species ......................................................................23 3.3 Plant Diversity and Rare and Listed Species..........................................................................24 3.4 Soil Biota and the Vital Importance of Soil Integrity ............................................................27 3.5 Landscape Context.................................................................................................................27 3.5.1 Intactness vs. Fragmentation...........................................................................................27 3.5.2 Climate Change Adaptation ...........................................................................................28 3.6 Landscape-scale Ecological Processes......................................................................................28 The Nature Conservancy iii September 2010 Mojave Desert Ecoregional Assessment 3.6.1 Ecological Integrity, Connectivity, and Ecosystem Services............................................28 3.6.2 Water, Watersheds, and Groundwater to Surface Water Linkages................................29 3.6.3 Aeolian Processes, Sand Sources, and Sand Deposition ................................................29 3.6.4 Fire Regimes....................................................................................................................30 3.7 Cultural Resources .................................................................................................................32 4 Existing Management and Conservation Efforts .................................................................. 33 4.1 Federal Lands .........................................................................................................................33 4.2 State Lands .............................................................................................................................33 4.3 Native American Lands..........................................................................................................35 4.4 Regional Conservation Plans .................................................................................................36 4.5 Non-governmental Organization Lands.................................................................................38 4.6 Private Lands ..........................................................................................................................38 4.7 Conservation Management Challenges .................................................................................39 4.7.1 Multiple Mandates and Constraints ...............................................................................39 4.7.2 Lack of Coordinated Management .................................................................................39 4.7.3 Single-Species Focus ........................................................................................................40 4.7.4 Knowledge Gaps and Public Misconceptions.................................................................40 4.8 Restoration Efforts .................................................................................................................41 4.9 Mitigation Programs...............................................................................................................42 5 Threats and Conservation Challenges.................................................................................. 43 5.1 Land-Use Changes..................................................................................................................44 5.1.1 Urban Expansion and Proliferation................................................................................44 5.1.1.1 Housing and Commercial Development.................................................................44 5.1.1.2 Transportation Infrastructure..................................................................................46 5.1.2 Electrical Generation and Transmission.........................................................................48 5.1.2.1 Differences in Impacts of Proposed Technologies...................................................48 5.1.2.2 Transmission Lines and Utility Corridors...............................................................51 5.1.2.3 Other Related Infrastructure ...................................................................................51 5.1.3 Groundwater Pumping, Water Diversions, and Streambed Modifications ...................53 5.1.4 Recreational Off-highway Vehicle Use............................................................................55 5.1.5 Agriculture ......................................................................................................................56 5.1.6 Livestock Grazing ............................................................................................................56 5.1.7 Mining.............................................................................................................................57 5.1.8 Military Activities ............................................................................................................58 5.1.9 Waste Disposal................................................................................................................58 5.2 Invasive Non-native Species ...................................................................................................60 5.3 Deposition of Air Pollutants ..................................................................................................62