Desert Projects

Vegetation and soils are two of many natural resources monitored by the National Park Service (NPS) Division of Inventory & Monitoring (I&M). Learning about vegetation dynamics helps us to better understand the integrity of ecological processes, productivity trends, and ecosystem interactions that can otherwise be difficult to monitor. In NPS units of the American Southwest, three I&M networks monitor vegetation and soils using the scientific protocol described here.

Determining the impact of climate on vegetation is especially important in desert regions that are prone to land degradation. Vegetation changes can dramatically change the productive capacity and diversity of a site, alter food and habitat for wildlife, and affect soil erosion, carbon and nutrient cycling.

Desert sand dunes interact strongly with external drivers, including wind, vegetation, and groundwater. Given the ubiquity of sand dunes on Earth’s deserts and on extraterrestrial environments, this research attempts to understand how dune fields respond to these complex external forces.

An inventory of moths at White Sands National Monument has revealed a previously unknown concentration of endemic species.

The purpose of this research is to survey the arthropods of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA, and Cuatrociénegas Protected Area, Coahuila, Mexico, specifically to discover new, unnamed and potentially endemic species.

In the Trans-Pecos, ferns and their allies either flourish or become dormant in response to limited available moisture. If conditions are dry, many of the xeric (dry environment) ferns respond by curling up and going into a dormant stage, only to revive and actively grow again when water becomes available.

Saguaro National Park was established in 1933 specifically to protect an impressive stand of many large saguaro cacti – the “Cactus Forest” – at the base of the Rincon Mountains east of Tucson, Arizona. However, concerns about the decline of the Cactus Forest have been expressed throughout the history of the park. As a result, research on saguaros in the park began as early as 1939 and continues to this day.

Lake Lucero is a highly saline and seasonally aquatic playa; it is the source of the White Sands National Monument’s gypsum dunes of the Tularosa Basin in Southern New Mexico. Its combination of an acidic hot groundwater and alkaline, highly saline soil profile raises interesting questions on the genetic diversity of the soil microorganisms and their associated metabolic functions, especially related to their distribution with soil depth.

Beneath your feet as you walk across the gypsum dunes and soils of White Sands National Monument is an ecosystem of roots and millions and millions of microorganisms that live in the pore spaces between sand grains.