It’s alive! The hidden microbial communities below our feet
California’s deserts are harbors of biodiversity — filled with blossoming wildflowers, charismatic animals, and imperceptible microorganisms. Walk through a desert and you might see a vast vista of protruding peaks speckled with desert scrub. Look a little closer and you might see pops of color, fragrant forbs scattered across the soil. Easily missed, biocrusts are ecosystem engineers in the soil. Here’s why we need to watch where we step.
Preserving a symbol of the desert
For the past six years MDLT has conducted two annual desert tortoise surveys on some of our lands. The surveys we conduct are meant to determine the tortoise’s presence or absence from the area over consecutive years. This helps MDLT, as well as the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, understand the conditions and health of Gopherus agassizii populations and habitat.
Wildlife cameras pinpoint movement of protected bighorn sheep
MDLT’s Women in Science Discovering our Mojave (WISDOM) project has been analyzing data from seven cameras to better understand the movement of bighorn in one area of Mojave Trails National Monument. The results are now in.