In the United States, three “hot deserts” receive precipitation in the summer months (Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan) and one “cold desert” receives precipitation in the winter (Great Basin).
These ecosystems receive less than 10 in (250 mm) of annual precipitation. Far from desolate, the deserts support high levels of biodiversity including iconic species such as Joshua trees, Mexican free-tailed bats, desert pupfishes, cutthroat trout, pronghorn antelope, desert tortoises, Gila monsters, sage grouse, bighorn sheep, desert iguanas, bristlecone pines, cuckoos, ocotillo, desert poppies, saguaro cactus, kangaroo rats and pigmy rabbits.
Desert biodiversity is the result of evolutionary divergence driven by landscape heterogeneity such as the remote valleys, mountain tops, dry lake beds, sand dunes, and caves across the West. By 12,000 BCE, when the Pleistocene ended, lakes that filled many valleys receded, leaving fishes and other aquatic animals isolated among highly divergent aquatic habitats including lakes with salinities that vary from fresh water to three times the salinity of ocean water. The isolation of populations in terrestrial refugia and desert oases provided the conditions for evolutionary divergence that led to a rich biodiversity.
However, deserts are also impacted by anthropomorphic stressors such as water withdrawal, mining, roads, pollution, over-grazing, energy development, invasive and feral species, and urban sprawl.
Desert Research
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
New Tools for Modern Land Management Decisions
Biological Soil Crust ("Biocrust") Science
Drought & Grazing Experiment: Understanding Impacts and Identifying Mitigation Strategies
River Sediment Dynamics
Well Pad Reclamation and Research
Long-Term Vegetation Change on the Colorado Plateau
Indicators of Rangeland Health
Conservation of Rare, Sensitive, and At-risk Desert Plant Species
RestoreNet: Distributed Field Trial Network for Dryland Restoration
Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation
Ecohydrology and Climate Change in Drylands
Recent data (2020-2022) related to USGS desert research is listed below. A complete listing of USGS desert data is available from the button below.
Carex specuicola genomic data for the southern Colorado Plateau Desert
Species Distribution Models for Native Species in the Mojave Desert
Simulation models for buffelgrass and alternative management strategies for Saguaro National Park, AZ
Ecotypic Variation in Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata from Three Sites Across the Mojave (2014 - 2018)
Soil surface properties and roughness data at two experimental restoration sites within the Southwestern USA
Genetic and Habitat Data for Plantago ovata in the Mojave Desert
Invasive Plant Cover in the Mojave Desert, 2009 - 2013 (ver. 2.0, April 2021)
State-and-Transition Simulation Models of Buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park (2014-2044) to explore ecological uncertainties
State-and-Transition Simulation Model of Buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park (2014-2044)
Dataset for plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions
Principal components of climate variation in the Desert Southwest (ver. 2.0, September 2019)
Probable and potential suitable habitat for 43 rare plant species in the California desert
Recent publications (2020-2022) related to USGS desert research are listed below. A complete listing of USGS desert publications is available from the button below.
Natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS) can establish regenerative wetland sinks that reverse desertification and strengthen climate resilience
Seed menus: An integrated decision-support framework for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert
Woody plant encroachment of grassland and the reversibility of shrub dominance: Erosion, fire, and feedback processes
Calibration of an evapotranspiration algorithm in a semiarid sagebrush steppe using a 3-ha lysimeter and Landsat normalized difference vegetation index data
Coupling process-based and empirical models to assess management options to meet conservation goals
Biocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Asynchronous flowering patterns in saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
Biocrusts do not differentially influence emergence and early establishment of native and non-native grasses
Grassification and fast-evolving fire connectivity and risk in the Sonoran Desert, United States
Protocol for route restoration in California’s desert renewable energy conservation plan area
A common garden super-experiment: An impossible dream to inspire possible synthesis
A new species of Helianthus (Asteracae) from Clark County, Nevada
Explore our science using the software below.
Mojave Seed Menus: a new spatial tool for restoration software release v1.0
- Overview
In the United States, three “hot deserts” receive precipitation in the summer months (Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan) and one “cold desert” receives precipitation in the winter (Great Basin).
These ecosystems receive less than 10 in (250 mm) of annual precipitation. Far from desolate, the deserts support high levels of biodiversity including iconic species such as Joshua trees, Mexican free-tailed bats, desert pupfishes, cutthroat trout, pronghorn antelope, desert tortoises, Gila monsters, sage grouse, bighorn sheep, desert iguanas, bristlecone pines, cuckoos, ocotillo, desert poppies, saguaro cactus, kangaroo rats and pigmy rabbits.
Desert biodiversity is the result of evolutionary divergence driven by landscape heterogeneity such as the remote valleys, mountain tops, dry lake beds, sand dunes, and caves across the West. By 12,000 BCE, when the Pleistocene ended, lakes that filled many valleys receded, leaving fishes and other aquatic animals isolated among highly divergent aquatic habitats including lakes with salinities that vary from fresh water to three times the salinity of ocean water. The isolation of populations in terrestrial refugia and desert oases provided the conditions for evolutionary divergence that led to a rich biodiversity.
However, deserts are also impacted by anthropomorphic stressors such as water withdrawal, mining, roads, pollution, over-grazing, energy development, invasive and feral species, and urban sprawl.
Desert ResearchFilter Total Items: 23Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities...New Tools for Modern Land Management Decisions
In an era of rapid land use changes and shifting climates, it is imperative that land managers and policymakers have actionable and current information available for decision processes. In this work, we seek to meet these needs through new data products and decision support tools built on digital soil mapping, new vegetation cover maps, agency inventory and monitoring data sets, and cutting-edge...Biological Soil Crust ("Biocrust") Science
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are commonly found on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems (collectively called drylands). Biocrusts can consist of mosses, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, and microfungi, and they strongly interact with the soil. These organisms or consortium of disparate organisms, depending on the specific biocrust, are important to the functioning of ecosystems...Drought & Grazing Experiment: Understanding Impacts and Identifying Mitigation Strategies
Drylands (sometimes called ‘deserts’ or ‘arid and semi-arid' ecosystems) are defined by water scarcity. Understanding how land-use activities may effect dryland ecosystems and dryland ecological processes is a high priority for land conservation and management. Grazing by domestic livestock (typically cattle but also sheep and goats) is the most widespread land-use in drylands globally and a large...River Sediment Dynamics
Sediment controls the physical habitat of river ecosystems. Changes in the amount and areal distribution of different sediment types cause changes in river-channel form and river habitat. The amount and type of sediment suspended in the water column determines water clarity. Understanding sediment transport and the conditions under which sediment is deposited or eroded from the various...Well Pad Reclamation and Research
Reclamation on lands impacted by energy development is complicated and extremely challenging in arid environments due to unstable soils, exotic species, and low and variable precipitation. The reclamation tactics employed by energy operators vary widely and outcomes can differ across plant communities and soil types. In order to address the knowledge gaps regarding how to successfully and...Long-Term Vegetation Change on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau, centered around the four corners area of the Southwest, and includes much of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, is a large and important component of U.S. drylands. This important home to mountains, desert basins, dramatic canyons, arid woodlands, and grasslands is also one of North America’s most rapidly warming hot spots, with rates of warming of up to 2-3° C within...Indicators of Rangeland Health
Rangelands are natural ecosystems where the native vegetation consists predominantly of grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs. Rangelands include natural grasslands, savannas, shrublands, oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands, many deserts, tundra, alpine communities, marshes, and wet meadows.Conservation of Rare, Sensitive, and At-risk Desert Plant Species
The Mojave Desert is among the hottest and driest of the North American drylands, but in spite of these extreme conditions, and in part because of them, a diverse flora exists. This diversity of rare, endemic, and endangered species is threatened by the complex interaction between fluctuating climate and human-mediated disturbances. USGS studies have identified rare species “hotspots” for planning...RestoreNet: Distributed Field Trial Network for Dryland Restoration
Starting in 2017, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers and land managers are co-producing a network of restoration field trial sites on Department of Interior (DOI) and surrounding lands in the southwestern U.S. The network systematically tests restoration treatments across a broad range of landscape, soil, and climate conditions. Each site in the network is used to test suitable seed mixes...Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation
The objective of this interdisciplinary research effort is to 1) characterize agents of change important to land management decision makers on the Colorado Plateau; 2) identify and analyze relationships between agents of change and key landscape attributes and processes; 3) collectively assess the influence of agents of change and attributes and processes on the services provided by the ecosystem...Ecohydrology and Climate Change in Drylands
Drylands cover 40% of the global terrestrial surface and provide important ecosystem services. However, climate forecasts in most dryland regions, especially the southwest U.S., call for increasing aridity. Specifically, changing climate will alter soil water availability, which exerts dominant control over ecosystem structure and function in water-limited, dryland ecosystems. This research seeks... - Data
Recent data (2020-2022) related to USGS desert research is listed below. A complete listing of USGS desert data is available from the button below.
Filter Total Items: 18Carex specuicola genomic data for the southern Colorado Plateau Desert
These data were compiled to investigate the demographic and phylogeographic of Carex specuicola. Objectives of our study were to understand the demographic and dispersal history of Carex specuicola across hanging gardens, the hybridization history between Carex specuicola and Carex utahensis, and the population structure of Carex specuicola across its distribution. The data release consists of thrSpecies Distribution Models for Native Species in the Mojave Desert
Preserving native species diversity is fundamental to ecosystem conservation. Selecting appropriate native species for use in restoration is a critical component of project design and may emphasize species attributes such as life history, functional type, pollinator services, and nutritional value for wildlife. Determining which species are likely to establish and persist in a particular environmeSimulation models for buffelgrass and alternative management strategies for Saguaro National Park, AZ
This is a spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation model of buffelgrass dynamics and alternative management actions in Saguaro National Park, AZ. Buffelgrass is an invasive grass spreading in the park. This work built on previous efforts that first developed a state and transition simulation model linked to FARSITE fire behavior model to describe buffelgrass dynamics in the park and a seEcotypic Variation in Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata from Three Sites Across the Mojave (2014 - 2018)
These data were acquired from two native Mojave Desert species, Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata, from 3 sites (50 m x 50 m garden plots) distributed across the differing Mojave Desert ecotones. These sites were located on the Fort Irwin National Training Center (CA), north of Joshua Tree National Park (CA), and north of Saint George (UT). Growth and survivorship data were collected monthly fSoil surface properties and roughness data at two experimental restoration sites within the Southwestern USA
This data release presents data used for analyzing spatial and temporal differences in soil surface roughness within selected biocrust communities. These records were collected by ground-based lidar for 121, 1m x 3m soil plots with biological soil crusts (biocrusts). Roughness was estimated from 5 mm resolution data (CloudCompare v. 2.10.2, 2019) for two Great Basin Desert sites (UTTR-1; UTTR-2) iGenetic and Habitat Data for Plantago ovata in the Mojave Desert
These datasets were developed to represent the genetic diversity, population structure, and geographic distribution of Plantago ovata in the Mojave Desert. This data release consists of two tab-delimited text files representing the genetic diversity and structure of Plantago ovata (.genepop and .vcf), and two raster spatial datasets (GeoTIFF) reflecting predicted habitat for the species within theInvasive Plant Cover in the Mojave Desert, 2009 - 2013 (ver. 2.0, April 2021)
We assessed the impacts of co-occurring invasive plant species on fire regimes and postfire native communities in the Mojave Desert, western USA by analyzing the distribution and co-occurrence patterns of three invasive annual grasses known to alter fuel conditions and community structure: Red Brome (Bromus rubens), Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), and Mediterranean grass (Schismus spp.: Schismus aState-and-Transition Simulation Models of Buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park (2014-2044) to explore ecological uncertainties
This is a spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation model of buffelgrass dynamics in Saguaro National Park, AZ. Buffelgrass is an invasive grass spreading in the park. The model represents uninvaded and invaded parts of the desert ecosystem and includes a connection to a fire behavior model. The model was built using the ST-Sim software platform linked to the FARSITE fire behavior model.State-and-Transition Simulation Model of Buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park (2014-2044)
This is a spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation model of buffelgrass dynamics in Saguaro National Park. Buffelgrass is an invasive grass spreading in the park. The model represents uninvaded and invaded parts of the desert ecosystem including transition pathways related to management activities and includes a connection to a fire behavior model. The model was built using the ST-Sim soDataset for plant production responses to climate across water-limited regions
This dataset was constructed from readily available open source climate and vegetation data, like Landsat. This dataset represents the vegetation and climate conditions for a large number of points across the major deserts of the SW USA. The dataset was constructed in order to use the climate pivot point approach (Munson et al. 2013) at the landscape level. Originally this dataset was much largerPrincipal components of climate variation in the Desert Southwest (ver. 2.0, September 2019)
Five principal components are used to represent the climate variation in an original set of 12 climate variables reflecting precipitation and temperature gradients. The dataset provides coverage for four regions (the Sonoran Desert, Mojave Desert, Colorado Plateau, and Southern Great Basin) and three time periods including current climate (defined as the 1980-2010 normal period) and future climateProbable and potential suitable habitat for 43 rare plant species in the California desert
Multiple-use public lands are intended to meet the needs of current and future generations and require balancing a host of diverse resource uses and values within and across landscapes. In the California desert, there are significant interests in further developing renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal) and important conservation concerns on multiple-use public lands. The Bureau of Land Manage - Publications
Recent publications (2020-2022) related to USGS desert research are listed below. A complete listing of USGS desert publications is available from the button below.
Filter Total Items: 32Natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS) can establish regenerative wetland sinks that reverse desertification and strengthen climate resilience
In this article we describe the natural hydrogeomorphological and biogeochemical cycles of dryland fluvial ecosystems that make them unique, yet vulnerable to land use activities and climate change. We introduce Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS), which are structures naturally or anthropogenically created from earth, wood, debris, or rock that can restore implicit function of theseAuthorsLaura M. Norman, Rattan Lal, Ellen Wohl, Emily Fairfax, Allen Gellis, Michael M. PollockSeed menus: An integrated decision-support framework for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert
The combination of ecosystem stressors, rapid climate change, and increasing landscape-scale development has necessitated active restoration across large tracts of disturbed habitats in the arid southwestern United States. In this context, programmatic directives such as the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration have increasingly emphasized improved restoration practices that pAuthorsDaniel F. Shryock, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. EsqueWoody plant encroachment of grassland and the reversibility of shrub dominance: Erosion, fire, and feedback processes
Many grass-dominated ecosystems in dryland regions have experienced increasing woody plant density and abundance during the past century. In many cases, this process has led to land degradation and declines in ecosystem functions. An example is the Chihuahuan Desert in the southwestern United States, which experienced different stages of shrub encroachment in the past 150 years. Among a wide varieAuthorsJunran Li, Sujith Ravi, Guan Wang, R. Scott Van Pelt, Thomas E. Gill, Joel B. SankeyCalibration of an evapotranspiration algorithm in a semiarid sagebrush steppe using a 3-ha lysimeter and Landsat normalized difference vegetation index data
In arid and semiarid environments, evapotranspiration (ET) is the primary discharge component in the water balance, with potential ET exceeding precipitation. For this reason, reliable estimates of ET are needed to construct accurate water budgets in these environments. Remote sensing affords the ability to provide fast, accurate, field-scale ET estimates, but these methods have largely been restrAuthorsChristopher J. Jarchow, William J. Waugh, Pamela L. NaglerCoupling process-based and empirical models to assess management options to meet conservation goals
Conservation lands face a mounting threat of ecosystem transformation and the loss of biodiversity from the invasion of fire-prone perennial and annual grasses. Managers must make difficult decisions to find efficient ways to expend limited resources to manage large and complex landscapes amidst substantial uncertainty regarding effective treatment strategies, climates, and invader-induced novel pAuthorsCatherine S. Jarnevich, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Nicholas E. Young, Perry Grissom, Dana M. Backer, Leonardo FridBiocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Global concerns for desertification have focused on the slow recovery of extensive and expanding drylands following disturbance, which may be exacerbated by climate change. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are photosynthetic soil communities found in drylands worldwide, which are central to the stability and resilience of dryland ecosystems, but vulnerable to global change. Here we use multipleAuthorsMichala Lee Phillips, Brandon E McNellis, Armin J. Howell, Cara Marie Lauria, Jayne Belnap, Sasha C. ReedAsynchronous flowering patterns in saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea [Engelm.] Britton & Rose) is a keystone species endemic to the Sonoran Desert of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. The saguaro produces large white flowers near its stem apex (crown) during April–June, which bloom at night and close the following day. In 1924, Duncan Johnson reported that saguaro floral buds are likely to have an asymmetricaAuthorsTheresa Foley, Don E. Swann, Guadalupe Sotelo, Nicholas Perkins, Daniel E. WinklerBiocrusts do not differentially influence emergence and early establishment of native and non-native grasses
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) cover the soil surface of global drylands and interact with vascular plants. Biocrusts may influence the availability and nature of safe sites for plant recruitment and the susceptibility of an area to invasion by non-native species. Therefore, to investigate the potential role of biocrusts in invasive species management, we sought to determine whether native andAuthorsCheryl McIntyre, Steven R. Archer, Katie Predick, Jayne BelnapGrassification and fast-evolving fire connectivity and risk in the Sonoran Desert, United States
In the southwestern United States, non-native grass invasions have increased wildfire occurrence in deserts and the likelihood of fire spread to and from other biomes with disparate fire regimes. The elevational transition between desertscrub and montane grasslands, woodlands, and forests generally occurs at ∼1,200 masl and has experienced fast suburbanization and an expanding wildland-urban interAuthorsBenjamin T. Wilder, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Elizabeth Baldwin, Joseph S. Black, Kim A. Franklin, Perry Grissom, Katherine Hovanes, Aaryn Olsson, Jim Malusa, Abu S.M.G. Kibria, Yue M. Li, Aaron M. Lien, Alejandro Ponce, Julia A. Rowe, Jose Soto, Maya Stahl, Nicholas Young, Julio L. BetancourtProtocol for route restoration in California’s desert renewable energy conservation plan area
In the deserts of the Southwestern United States, increased off-highway vehicle use can lead to widespread vehicular damage to desert ecosystems. As the popularity and intensity of vehicle use on public lands continues, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is challenged to manage the routes used by recreationists while minimizing activity beyond designated routes and mitigating environmental impactAuthorsTodd C. Esque, Ka-Voka R. Jackson, Alexandrea M. Rice, Jeffery K. Childers, Caroline S. Woods, Amy Fesnock-Parker, Andrew C. Johnson, Lauren J. Price, Kristin E. Forgrave, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Lesley A. DeFalcoA common garden super-experiment: An impossible dream to inspire possible synthesis
Global change threatens plant diversity and disrupts its interrelationship with ecosystem structure and function. This disruption in turn undermines confidence in the knowledge ecologists produce, and whether it will translate into multidisciplinary research settings or guide the effective management of natural lands.To address this challenge, ecology needs to consider the interactions between difAuthorsTravis E. Huxman, Daniel E. Winkler, Kailen A. MooneyA new species of Helianthus (Asteracae) from Clark County, Nevada
Helianthus devernii T.M.Draper is described as a new endemic species from two small desert spring populations found within Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Clark County, NV. Morphological data and nuclear ribosomal ITS marker data place it in section Ciliares series Pumili. Furthermore, the molecular data allies it most closely to H. pumilus Nutt. Helianthus devernii differs from H. pumAuthorsTrent M Draper, Todd C. Esque - Software
Explore our science using the software below.
Mojave Seed Menus: a new spatial tool for restoration software release v1.0
Mojave Seed Menus is a spatial decision-support tool designed to help land managers create suitable seed mixes for restoration sites, such as a burned area or other mapped spatial feature. The application provides coverage for the Mojave Desert ecoregion. Seed menus are based on a combination of habitat suitability models for 50 priority restoration plant species. Species are selected based on the