All too often overlooked for their ecological value, the California’s Mojave and Colorado deserts feature stunning biodiversity, surpassing even many forest ecosystems. More than 2,400 native plant species, 72 occurring nowhere else on earth, reside in the windswept dunes, craggy mountains, life-giving waters, and other habitats that encompass the region. This landscape makes up 27% of the state’s land mass, sequesters 10% of its carbon, and is the nation’s largest relatively intact ecosystem outside of Alaska. This, however, belies the fragility of California’s deserts, which face unprecedented pressures from climate change and development.

In the last century, temperatures in the region have risen about three degrees Fahrenheit, while decreased precipitation and more frequent wildfires have pushed many species to the brink. Compounding this, development is fragmenting habitat and impeding climate refugia by disrupting the connectivity needed for species to move and giving them fewer places of retreat. For the iconic Joshua tree, catastrophic habitat loss looms. A 2019 study found that in the best-case scenario, only 19% of the species’ habitat is likely to remain at the end of the century. California’s state reptile, the Mojave desert tortoise, was uplisted to endangered status this year under the California Endangered Species Act following 90% population declines over the last 50 years.

Hope emerged at two points in the last century.

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