Vulnerability and Recoverability of the Mojave Desert Ecosystem

The Vulnerability and Recoverability of the Mojave Desert Ecosystem is part of the USGS Place-Based Studies Program, to improve scientific understanding of desert ecosystem processes and apply that understanding to land management needs. The strategy involves helping desert managers achieve their adaptive management objectives with a rigorous, scientific approach. Starting with baseline data, much of which has been assembled by the Department of Defense Legacy Program, local studies will aim at gaining a deeper understanding of how surface processes interact with the biota. A key is to examine natural and human-induced variations, both locally and across the region. This knowledge will be extrapolated to the ecosystem using remote sensing techniques. Maps of vulnerability and recoverability for specific stresses and types of damage will be created by testing hypotheses based on knowledge of these fundamental processes and then developing geographic information system methods to derive multiple maps. A monitoring strategy will be designed so that land management agencies can detect significant changes in key indicators of ecosystem health on a continuing basis as part of their adaptive management program. [Summary provided by USGS.]