Location
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Greenspun Hall (first & second floor lobby)
Description
The invasion and persistence of exotic plant species threatens the natural features that national parks are designed to protect. For example, park managers have witnessed an increase in the frequency, extent and intensity of fires along with a reduction in native species richness and diversity. Many park managers are familiar with a suite of highly invasive plants, but lack a comprehensive and systematic way of prioritizing invasive plant species based on potential threats to the parks’ resources. We have entered into a collaborative project with the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring program to develop an invasive plant early detection and monitoring protocol for the Mojave Desert Network (MOJN),which includes seven national park units. Our first step was to identify and prioritize invasive plants presently occurring or having the potential to invade each of the seven parks. To date, we have compiled a list of 350 species considered unnatural or weedy to the Mojave Desert region. From this comprehensive list, 154 were identified as having a medium or higher impact on the desert ecosystem. Since the MOJN hosts a wide variety of habitat types, our second step was to identify locations that are most vulnerable to invasion. We are currently synthesizing existing literature on species richness and elevation relationships, life-history and spatial distribution for these plants species.
Keywords
Asteraceae; Brassicaceae; Chenopodiaceae; Death Valley; Exotic plants; Fabaceae; Great Basin National Park; Invasive plants; Invasive species control; Joshua Tree National Park; Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Manzanar National Historic site; Mojave Desert; Mojave National Preserve; Native plant communities; Poaceae; Solanaceae
Disciplines
Desert Ecology | Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Monitoring | Plant Sciences | Weed Science
Language
English
Included in
Desert Ecology Commons, Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Weed Science Commons
Assessing invasive plant species as threats in Mojave Desert parks
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Greenspun Hall (first & second floor lobby)
The invasion and persistence of exotic plant species threatens the natural features that national parks are designed to protect. For example, park managers have witnessed an increase in the frequency, extent and intensity of fires along with a reduction in native species richness and diversity. Many park managers are familiar with a suite of highly invasive plants, but lack a comprehensive and systematic way of prioritizing invasive plant species based on potential threats to the parks’ resources. We have entered into a collaborative project with the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring program to develop an invasive plant early detection and monitoring protocol for the Mojave Desert Network (MOJN),which includes seven national park units. Our first step was to identify and prioritize invasive plants presently occurring or having the potential to invade each of the seven parks. To date, we have compiled a list of 350 species considered unnatural or weedy to the Mojave Desert region. From this comprehensive list, 154 were identified as having a medium or higher impact on the desert ecosystem. Since the MOJN hosts a wide variety of habitat types, our second step was to identify locations that are most vulnerable to invasion. We are currently synthesizing existing literature on species richness and elevation relationships, life-history and spatial distribution for these plants species.