Ecosystems We Study: Deserts Active
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
Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation
Ecohydrology and Climate Change in Drylands
Plant Responses to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States
Measuring Water Requirements Of Riparian Regions in the Southwestern U.S. Compared with Drylands in Australia
RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Inventory and Long-Term Monitoring
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Mechanistic Studies of Wildlife
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Baseline Synthesis
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Effectiveness Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
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.
Principal components of climate variation in the Desert Southwest for the time periods 1980-2010, 2040-2070 (RCP8.5) and (RCP4.5)
Cover of Woody and Herbaceous Functional Groups in Burned and Unburned Plots, Mojave Desert, 2009-2013
Data release for persistence of historical population structure in an endangered species despite near-complete biome conversion in Californias San Joaquin Desert
Community-level riparian plant traits, Colorado River, Grand Canyon, 2013-2015Data
Fire Patterns among Ecological Zones in the California Desert, 1984-2013
Variable Terrestrial GPS Telemetry Detection Rates: Parts 1 - 7Data
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.
A river of change—The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region
Biotic and abiotic treatments as a bet-hedging approach to restoring plant communities and soil functions
Biocrust and the soil surface: Influence of climate, disturbance, and biocrust recovery on soil surface roughness
Climate change and other factors influencing the saguaro cactus
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts
Plant growth and biocrust-fire interactions across five North American deserts
Local climate adaptations in two ubiquitous Mojave Desert shrub species, Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata
Biotic vs abiotic controls on temporal sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across North American drylands
Linking behavioral states to landscape features for improved conservation management
The demographic and ecological factors shaping diversification among rare Astragalus species
A chemical and bio‐herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non‐targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fire
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- 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: 23Colorado 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...Plant Responses to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States
Land managers face tremendous challenges in the future as drought and climate change alter the abundance, distribution, and interactions of plant species. These challenges will be especially daunting in the southwestern US, which is already experiencing elevated temperatures and prolonged droughts, resulting in reduced soil moisture in an already water-limited environment. These changes will...Measuring Water Requirements Of Riparian Regions in the Southwestern U.S. Compared with Drylands in Australia
Floodplain red gum forests are sites of high biodiversity in arid regions of south Australia. They depend on periodic floods from rivers, but dams and diversions have reduced flood frequencies, leading to deterioration of the trees. We determined the water requirements of red gum trees so environmental flows can be used to restore and maintain the forests. We used measurements of transpiration of...RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing rapidly in extent and...Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Applied research and integrated regional assessments emphasize spatially explicit analyses of ecosystem components affected by energy development and land-use change in the western United States. Topics include sagebrush-steppe ecology; sagebrush habitat assessments; the effets of human activities (including energy development, transportation, and recreation) on habitats and wildlife behavior...Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Inventory and Long-Term Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Mechanistic Studies of Wildlife
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Baseline Synthesis
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Effectiveness Monitoring
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural... - 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: 18Principal components of climate variation in the Desert Southwest for the time periods 1980-2010, 2040-2070 (RCP8.5) and (RCP4.5)
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 two time periods: current climate (defined as the 1980-2010 normal period) and future climate (defined aCover of Woody and Herbaceous Functional Groups in Burned and Unburned Plots, Mojave Desert, 2009-2013
Arid ecosystems are often vulnerable to transformation to invasive-dominated states following fire, but data on persistence of these states are sparse. The grass/fire cycle is a feedback process between invasive annual grasses and fire frequency that often leads to the formation of alternative vegetation states dominated by the invasive grasses. However, other components of fire regimes, such as bData release for persistence of historical population structure in an endangered species despite near-complete biome conversion in Californias San Joaquin Desert
The recency of large-scale land conversion in Californias San Joaquin Desert raises the probability that the regions numerous endemic species still retain genetic signatures of historical population connectivity. If so, genomic data can serve as a guidance tool for conserving lands that once supported habitat for gene movement. We studied the genetic structuring of the endangered blunt-nosed leopaCommunity-level riparian plant traits, Colorado River, Grand Canyon, 2013-2015Data
These data were compiled based on field observations and available literature. Field observations of plant cover were made in September and October of 2013 and 2014, while trait measurements were made in September and October of 2014 and 2015. Field data was collected on sandbars along the Colorado River through Grand Canyon between river miles 0 and 226. Field measurements of specific leaf area,Fire Patterns among Ecological Zones in the California Desert, 1984-2013
The California desert occupies the southeastern 27 percent of California (11,028,300 ha, 110,283 km2 or 27,251,610 ac). It includes two ecoregional provinces comprised of five desert regions ("ecological sections"; Miles and Goudy 1997). The American Semi-Desert and Desert Province (warm deserts) includes the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Colorado Desert sections in the southern 83 percent ofVariable Terrestrial GPS Telemetry Detection Rates: Parts 1 - 7Data
These data were used to explore environmental effects on fix success rates (FSR) across a wide range of environmental conditions, desert to alpine biomes, and cover the full range of potential data loss (0-100% FSR) for global positioning system (GPS) bias correction of terrestrial GPS-derived, large mammal habitat use. Also, these data were subsequently used to evaluate patterns in missing data t - 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: 32A river of change—The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region
The Big Bend region is located within the heart of the Chihuahan Desert of North America. Within this region, the Rio Grande, referred to as the Rio Bravo in Mexico, is the international border between the United States and Mexico. The area known as the Big Bend is named after the large northerly bend that the river makes before flowing southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. This region is environmentalAuthorsDavid DeanBiotic and abiotic treatments as a bet-hedging approach to restoring plant communities and soil functions
Two related concepts in restoration ecology include the relative interchangeability of biotic and abiotic restoration treatments for initiating recovery and bet hedging using multiple restoration approaches to increase the likelihood of favorable restoration outcomes. We used these concepts as a framework to implement a factorial experiment including biotic (outplanting greenhouse-grown individualAuthorsAudrey J Rader, Lindsay P. Chiquoine, James F. Weigand, Judy L Perkins, Seth M. Munson, Scott R AbellaBiocrust and the soil surface: Influence of climate, disturbance, and biocrust recovery on soil surface roughness
Biocrust communities promote soil surface roughness, a key functional characteristic for soil ecology. However, the spatial scales at which biocrust communities contribute to surface roughness are not well understood. To refine our understanding of the spatial dynamics between biocrust and soil surface roughness, we used mm-resolution terrestrial LiDAR to measure micro-topographic roughness at sevAuthorsJoshua Caster, Temuulen T. Sankey, Joel B. Sankey, Matthew A. Bowker, Daniel Buscombe, Michael C. Duniway, Nichole Barger, Akasha M. Faist, Taylor JoyalClimate change and other factors influencing the saguaro cactus
The saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea [Engelm.] Britton & Rose) is one of the world’s most iconic plants and a symbol of the desert Southwest. It is the namesake of Saguaro National Park, which was created (initially as a national monument) in 1933 to study, interpret, and protect the “giant cactus” and other unique Sonoran Desert species. Research on saguaros over the past century has revealed muAuthorsDon E. Swann, Daniel E. Winkler, Joshua L. Conver, Theresa FoleyU.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2007 as a collaborative interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. During the past 11 years, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated to implement a long-term (more than 10 years) science-basAuthorsPatrick J. Anderson, Cameron L. Aldridge, Jason S. Alexander, Timothy J. Assal, Steven Aulenbach, Zachary H. Bowen, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Holly Copeland, David R. Edmunds, Steve Germaine, Tabitha Graves, Julie A. Heinrichs, Collin G. Homer, Christopher Huber, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Ryan R. McShane, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Kirk A. Miller, Adrian P. Monroe, Michael S. O'Donnell, Anna Ortega, Annika W. Walters, Daniel J. Wieferich, Teal B. Wyckoff, Linda ZeigenfussDrivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts
Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but without a global evaluation of successes and failuresAuthorsNancy Shackelford, Gustavo B. Paterno, Daniel E. Winkler, Todd E. Erickson, Elizabeth A. Leger, Lauren N. Svejcar, Martin F. Breed, Akasha M. Faist, Peter L. Harrison, Michael F. Curran, Qinfeng Guo, Anita Kirmer, Darin J. Law, Kevin Mganga, Seth M. Munson, Lauren M. Porensky, Raul Emiliano Quiroga, Péter Török, Claire E. Wainwright, Ali Abdullahi, Matt A. Bahm, Elizabeth A. Ballenger, Nichole Barger, Owen W. Baughman, Carina Becker, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Chad S. Boyd, Carla M. Burton, Philip J. Burton, Eman Calleja, Peter J. Carrick, Alex Caruana, Charlie D. Clements, Kirk W. Davies, Balázs Deák, Jessica Drake, Sandra Dullau, Joshua Eldridge, Erin Espeland, Stephen E. Fick, Magda Garbowski, Enrique G. de la Riva, Peter J. Golos, Penelope A. Grey, Barry Heydenrych, Patricia M. Holmes, Jeremy J. James, Jayne Jonas-Bratten, Réka Kiss, Andrea T. Kramer, Julie E. Larson, Juan Lorite, C. Ellery Mayence, Luis Merino-Martín, Tamás Miglécz, Suanne Jane Milton, Thomas A. Monaco, Arlee M. Montalvo, Jose A. Navarro-Cano, Mark W. Paschke, Pablo Luis Peri, Monica L. Pokorny, Matthew J. Rinella, Nelmarie Saayman, Merilynn C. Schantz, Tina Parkhurst, Eric W. Seabloom, Katharine L. Stuble, Shauna M. Uselman, Orsolya Valkó, Kari E. Veblen, Scott D. Wilson, Megan Wong, Zhiwei Xu, Katharine L. SudingPlant growth and biocrust-fire interactions across five North American deserts
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are communities predominately comprised of lichens, bryophytes, fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria that form at the soil surface in dryland ecosystems worldwide. Biocrusts can influence the vascular plant community by altering surface hydrology, nutrient cycling, and the availability of microsites suitable for germination. Fire frequency has increased in many drylanAuthorsEllie McCann, Sasha C. Reed, Pradip Saud, Robin H. Reibold, Armin J. Howell, Akasha M. FaistLocal climate adaptations in two ubiquitous Mojave Desert shrub species, Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata
Widely distributed species are often locally adapted to climate gradients across their ranges. But little is known about the patterns of intraspecific adaptation in desert shrubs.We examined the questions of local adaptation in multiple populations of two common shrub species of the winter-wet Mojave Desert in North America in a multiple common garden experiment. Plants were raised in the greenhouAuthorsNathan A. Custer, Susan Schwinning, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. EsqueBiotic vs abiotic controls on temporal sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across North American drylands
Dryland net primary productivity (NPP) is sensitive to temporal variation in precipitation (PPT), but the magnitude of this ‘temporal sensitivity’ varies spatially. Hypotheses for spatial variation in temporal sensitivity have often emphasized abiotic factors, such as moisture limitation, while overlooking biotic factors, such as vegetation structure.We tested these hypotheses using spatiotemporalAuthorsAndrew J Felton, Robert K Shriver, John B. Bradford, Katharine N. Suding, Brady W Allred, Peter B. AdlerLinking behavioral states to landscape features for improved conservation management
A central theme for conservation is understanding how animals differentially use, and are affected by change in, the landscapes they inhabit. However, it has been challenging to develop conservation schemes for habitat-specific behaviors.Here we use behavioral change point analysis to identify behavioral states of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the southwestAuthorsMaitreyi Sur, Brian Woodbridge, Todd C. Esque, Jim R Belthoff, Peter H. Bloom, Robert N. Fisher, Kathleen Longshore, Kenneth E. Nussear, Jeff A. Tracey, Melissa A. Braham, Todd E. KatznerThe demographic and ecological factors shaping diversification among rare Astragalus species
AimEvolutionary radiations are central to the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, yet we rarely understand how they are jointly shaped by demography and ecological opportunity. Astragalus is the largest plant genus in the world and is disproportionately comprised of rare species restricted to narrow geographic and ecological regions. Here, we explored the demographic and ecological mechanismsAuthorsMatthew Richard Jones, Daniel E. Winkler, Robert MassattiA chemical and bio‐herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non‐targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fire
QuestionsInvasive‐plant treatments often target a single or few species, but many landscapes are diversely invaded. Exotic annual grasses (EAGs) increase wildfires and degrade native perennial plant communities in cold‐desert rangelands, and herbicides are thus sprayed to inhibit EAG germination and establishment. We asked how EAG target and non‐target species responded to an herbicide mixture sprAuthorsBrynne E. Lazarus, Matthew J. Germino - Software
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