Bringing Back Our Deserts

Bringing Back Our Deserts — page 7 — CENTER FOR ARID LANDS RESTORATION In the 1980s few nurseries sold mature plants from the Mojave Desert there just wasn’t a market So when JTNP wanted native specimens to restock sites around the park they had to supply their own They started with a small nursery By 1992 the nursery had expanded and included two greenhouses and the capacity to grow thousands of native plants The Center for Arid Lands Restoration CALR was the name they gave to all the plant-related programs at JTNP including the nursery restoration program and rare plant research CALR not only benefited JTNP but also came to supply state federal and private organizations with rare plants and expertise The years following Joshua Tree’s promotion to national park status have been marked by more popularity a higher worldwide profile improved scientific management of resources and more respect from senior agency officials 9 Lary Dilsaver Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of South Alabama 2015 in with the live vegetation and helps the land catch water soil and seeds JTNP started relocating roads and creating new parking lots to manage the impact of tourists leading to new areas being cleared Rather than lose plants that had been nurtured by the desert the staff learned to salvage live plants for restoration work in other areas Every year vegetation crews continue to attack invasive species while spreading and nurturing natives THE FUTURE OF JTNP Trails at JTNP lead visitors to features such as the Lost Palms Oasis and the Lost Horse Mine a remnant of mining in the park The desert may appear timeless but it has always changed with the rate of change accelerating in the last couple of hundred years The desert would not look so beautiful without years of active ongoing restoration Even as a protected area JTNP is affected by human activities The number of visitors increases every year with more than 2 5 million in 2016 8 10

Bringing Back Our Deserts — page 8 — One trail at JTNP leads to the Cholla Cactus Garden 11

Bringing Back Our Deserts — page 9 — Park managers are searching for ways to minimize the impacts of tourists on the natural wonders they’ve come to see which may require adding additional entrances and a new visitor center JOSHUA TREES Legends say early Mormon settlers gave Joshua trees their name because they imagined the trees looked like the biblical figure of Joshua welcoming them to a new land But for modern visitors these tall succulents likely evoke the scenery of a Dr Seuss book Towering up to 40 feet 12 m Joshua trees are a tall species of yucca a plant genus with 49 members 10 Similar to many perennial desert plants Joshua tree seeds sprout rarely but adults live for a long time averaging 150 years or more Shallow but wide root networks take advantage of sudden downpours Joshua trees provide nesting sites for dozens of bird species but for its own reproduction it requires yucca moths Without the moths to pollinate there would be no new Joshua trees While neither Joshua trees nor yucca moths are yet endangered the Joshua tree faces threats from development and climate change Industrial and residential development continues to advance on the park’s borders On some days air pollution from nearby cities reaches levels known to affect human health which may also affect desert animals Plants are vulnerable too One concern is that nitrogen from air pollution may fertilize the desert and favor non-native over native plants Climate change is starting to make itself known with frequent droughts in the region already impacting the reproduction of Joshua trees As the buildup of greenhouse gases warms the planet the southwestern United States is predicted to become hotter and drier Species will relocate to new areas or disappear completely Managers at JTNP are considering strategies for monitoring the effects of climate change and actions to protect vulnerable species and ecosystems in the park With continued 12

Bringing Back Our Deserts — page 10 — work JTNP will be home to a diverse array of native desert species and landscapes of startling beauty for decades to come CONSERVATION SUCCESSES IN THE DESERT From a human perspective the desert is a harsh environment yet it teems with life in unexpected places Though these organisms survive extreme conditions they don’t always adjust well to changes brought on by human activities The human footprint on desert lands has been vast and transformative Agriculture roads development pollution and invasive species still threaten deserts around the world as they have for much of recent history New challenges such as climate change have come with the expansion of human populations and new technology Along with big challenges deserts have also been the site of big conservation successes such as JTNP The park is a beautiful desert land protected from many human disturbances with much of the destructive impact of invasive species controlled and many sites restored by native plantings Other degraded deserts around the world have also been protected and restored thanks to the work of conservationists land managers governments and others The deserts of the future will not be the same as those that existed before modern agriculture and development but they can be functioning ecosystems that continue to support a variety of unique life-forms 13

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