The Mojave Desert Seed Bank
The Mojave Desert Seed Bank serves as an insurance policy for the California desert ecosystem. It is a living repository of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, with millions of seeds kept safe for decades to come, available for restoration and research.
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Why do we need the Mojave Desert Seed Bank?
California is one of just 36 global biodiversity hotspots worldwide. The desert ecosystem makes up a quarter of the state and is home to one-third of California’s diverse flora. But this desert suffers increasingly from climate disruption and habitat loss. Wildfire, drought, rising temperatures, variable rainfall, invasive species, and development are impacting the desert’s biodiversity. Seed banking will be key to ensuring the survival of our state’s ecosystems in the future by making seed available for restoration and research. The Mojave Desert Seed Bank is one of the solutions to a national shortage of seed for restoration.
How it works
The goal of the Mojave Desert Seed Bank is to safeguard the diverse flora of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts against the threats of climate change, habitat loss, and extinction. We do this by collecting source identified genetically appropriate seed for revegetating damaged habitat. Staff and volunteers gather, process, and maintain collections of seeds from lands we manage across the California desert. There are over 800 seed collections representing over 200 taxa, including 10 species of special concern.
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How we collect seed
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Preparing seed for storage
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Under the microscope
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Vital research
In the news
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CNN International
Here in southern California, in the middle of the Mojave Desert’s vast and arid landscape, it’s just one of many natural treasures hidden from view. In long sleeves, pants, and wide-brimmed hats to guard against a harsh sun in a cloudless blue sky, a team of four led by Madena Asbell crouches in the dirt, looking for another treasure.
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Associated Press
Flowers that haven't been seen in years bloomed across Southern California this spring after massive winter downpours, creating not only colorful landscapes but a boon for conservationists eager to gather desert seeds as an insurance policy against a hotter and drier future.
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Press Enterprise
“This seed bank acts as an insurance policy — or, if you want to look at it a different way, like Noah’s Ark,” Godoy said. “When there is a need for that seed, our mission is to have it ready and here and in prime condition.”
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Bureau of Land Management
In 2020, the BLM partnered with the Mojave Desert Land Trust on a three-year pilot seed increase project to test growing and seed harvest techniques for native Mojave Desert annual plants on a small scale. Produced seed will be used as starter seed for larger-scale commercial seed increase and ultimately for desert tortoise habitat restoration.
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Spectrum News 1
Researchers say wildfires and climate change can have an enormous impact on desert species. That’s why the Mojave Desert Land Trust has been busy collecting seeds from native desert species to bank them for restoration and research efforts in the future. Spectrum News goes along with the nonprofit during one of their seed collection hikes in Joshua Tree.
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Vogue
Alongside the land acquisition and stewardship, MDLT also hosts a variety of plant conservation programs including a native plant restoration nursery and an extensive seed bank holding millions of seeds and spores of flora native to the Mojave Desert. The bank is one of a few actively collecting seeds of desert flora across California.
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Smithsonian Magazine
Since 2016, the Mojave Desert Land Trust has collected seeds and spores from more than 500 Mojave Desert species to provide an insurance policy against the plants’ extinction. Specimens are harvested, cleaned, documented and stored in refrigerators.
