The Mojave Desert continues to surprise me every day! Around every creosote shrub or Ambrosia dumosa bush there is a new wonder to behold: a wild desert tortoise slowly reaching for a bite of bright orange Spheralcea ambigua flower with its beak, a graceful Calochortus flexuosus mariposa lily purple-hued and magnificent waving in the wind, the desert pavement varnished dark rusty black crackling underfoot. A cobble lined wash no longer full of flowing winter rain but a symphony of perennial golden asters, blossoming buckwheat, and fragrant Phacelia.
Blooming Yucca
For the last few weeks, I have been working with USGS in Henderson, NV collecting data on annual plant species in juvenile desert tortoise habitat. What do the juveniles eat, where, and when? Based on forage availability, where are suitable locations for desert tortoise to be translocated? Translocation often occurs when someone constructs a building or otherwise disturbs an area where the endangered desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, lives. This project represents a component of the ongoing research of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center related to the desert tortoise (See http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Project.aspx?ProjectID=110).
Desert Tortoise!
I have been enjoying getting to know my new business partners: the cryptic Cryptanthas, the peculiar Pectocaryas, and the always exciting Eriogonum. The plants here truly amaze me with their abilities to survive in this extreme environment. For example, the retractable Pediocactus bradyi, a small cactus which retracts into the earth when stressed by dry and cold conditions!
My new winged neighbors: Say’s Pheobe, Costa’s Hummingbird, Verdin, Black-throated Sparrow, Rock Wren, and yes, The Greater Roadrunner. Nothing is as thrilling as hearing a female roadrunner’s coo-cooing bark ringing out through a Joshua Tree and Yucca woodland and reverberate against fossil-laden cliffs. Though the area is pretty parched now, about 660 million years ago a sea existed here leaving behind layers of shells and other remnants of marine life!
Joshua Tree
That’s all for now – we are about to help another team studying Joshua Tree pollination!
-Amanda