ConserveOnline - Mojave Desert Ecoregional 2010

Mojave Desert Ecoregional 2010

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The Mojave Desert harbors distinctive and extraordinarily rich biological diversity. Equally extraordinary is the fact that large portions of the Mojave remain mostly undisturbed by human activities and constitute one of the last great wilderness areas in the United States. The relative lack of disturbance is of great importance, because the Mojave’s arid climate, delicate soils, and slow pace of ecological succession render it exceedingly fragile and slow to recover when disturbed. Protecting these intact landscapes will be essential if the full complement of native species and communities are to persist into the future. Development pressures continue to mount, however, and today the Mojave is at a crossroads. This ecoregional assessment characterizes the distribution of biodiversity conservation values across the Mojave Desert, to help inform decision making regarding regional land-use and conservation investment. We characterized conservation values in the Mojave Desert Ecoregion using four categories: 1. Ecologically Core: These lands of highest conservation value are largely undisturbed and un-fragmented, and support the conservation targets (species, ecological systems, springs and seeps) selected for this analysis. Their full protection is critical for long-term conservation of biodiversity in the Mojave Desert. 2. Ecologically Intact: These lands of high conservation value are largely undisturbed and unfragmented and support conservation targets. They buffer Ecologically Core lands and require levels of protection that will allow them to remain relatively undisturbed to preserve ecological processes and to provide viable habitat and connectivity for native animals, plants, and communities. Most Ecologically Intact lands are functionally equivalent to Ecologically Core lands and may contain many of the same conservation targets, including sensitive species. However, they may have been classified as Ecologically Intact because they support more widespread ecological systems, are at higher risk of degradation, or support conservation targets for which the conservation goals have already been met on Ecologically Core lands. 3. Moderately Degraded: These lands are fragmented by roads or off-road-vehicle trails, or are in close proximity to urban, agricultural, and other developments. They often maintain ecological functionality (e.g., maintain groundwater infiltration and flow, serve as sand sources, provide connectivity) or provide habitat for native species including the conservation targets selected for this analysis. 4. Highly Converted: These urban, suburban, and agricultural lands are heavily altered. While some can support important conservation targets, their ecological context is highly compromised. These categories are available as a Map Service, viewable in ArcMap, Google Earth, or ArcExplorer. Download these at: http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/mojave/documents/mojave-desert-ecological-assessment-2010-map/view.html

CREATION DATE	October 12, 2010
LAST MODIFIED	December 2, 2010
CREATED BY	Brian Cohen
KEYWORDS	Ecoregional Assessment
PUBLICATION YEAR	No Publication Year
REVIEWED STATUS	Not Reviewed
LICENSE	Attribution Non-Commercial