Essay On Mojave Desert

There were four main invasive plants Himalayan Blackberry, Morning Glory, Reed Canary grass, and English Ivy. Carolyn then started to tell us the difference in the shapes

A region is an area that has common features. Las Vegas is in the State of Nevada and the North America continent. Nevada can be divided into 4 land regions: the Columbia Plateau, the Sierra Nevada, The Mojave desert, and the Basin and Range region. It is situated in a mountainous region that has massive semiarid grasslands and alkali deserts. It is in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern districts of the U.S. The large cities located in the basins are Reno and Carson. However, Elko, Elko, Fallon, and some other cities are located there. The Mojave Desert’s region includes Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City. Its region type is a state.

The plants have been thriving through California, which then would lead to the plants going through parts of the Mojave Desert since it is located in California. The plants that are un-harmful are the ones that are native. The non native plant species are one of the leading causes of the many wildfires in the area. The ones to look out for are the Russian thistle, cheat grass, saharan mustard, giant reed, and the tamarisk (“Invasive Species”). Along with the non native plant species growing rapidly and out of control, there are also two latter weeds that have been growing along river channels through the Mojave Desert. Once a desert is damaged, it can take years to regrow the plants let alone centuries to return to the desert and be look somewhat back to a normal state of being (¨Air Quality Management¨). The non native plant species are fueling the desert wildfires. When native plants die off or get picked by another predator, the non native plants grow in place of the native ones (“Threats to Mojave”). The reason plants are causing the uproar is they have really fine native woods which tend to burn easily and the plants are so close together the next one just catches fire. Before different species came to the desert, the wildfires were not as much a problem as they are now. The Russian thistle, also known as tumbleweed, reproduces from seeds that fall off of the bush in the wind. The

An example of an invasive plant includes the Canada thistle. The Canada thistle harms the environment because it, “crowds out and replaces native plants, changes the structure and species composition of natural plant communities and reduces plant and animal diversity… prevents the coexistence of other plant species through shading, competition for soil resources… through the release of chemical toxins poisonous to other plants” (Canada). The Canada thistle’s only special way of harming the surrounding environment consists of poisoning the plants that surround it. Otherwise the Canada thistle does not have any special ways that it harms the environment. People brought the Canada thistle to the United States in the 1600’s. By the year 1954, Canada and the United States of America declare the Canada thistle as a “noxious weed.” However now many consider the Canada thistle as an invasive plant (Canada). The Canada thistle has many ways that you can control it. You can cut it by hand, pull the plant out, burn them, or use chemicals to kill these plants. The best way to get rid of the Canada thistle encompasses using chemicals. If you do not have any chemicals to do this job you can always cut the plant down to the ground, and when it regrows do this again until the roots become exhausted

The overall website page on Channel Islands includes many tabs for users to explore. The page on terrestrial invasive plants is a helpful resource in learning about the competition of non-native plants. Colonization of invasive species poses harmful threats to native plants because many invasive plants such as sweet fennel, olive, and eucalyptus, compete for nutrients, light, and water. Sometimes these invasive species can outcompete native plants which can then lead to extinction. Constant eradication of invasive species is needed in order to ensure that native populations are not harmed. The web page provides in depth descriptions of the main invasive plants on the island as well as how each plant survives on the island. Although this website

Invasive species are a group of organisms that are not native to the land, and also have a negative impact on the ecosystem. Zebra mussels are one of many invasive species in North East America and Europe. These species cause much havoc for humans, and weaken food webs by even affecting zooplankton.

Another invasive species are the Nutria. The Nutria comes from South America. It is not exactly clear

The usage of land in the Mojave Desert is negatively affecting the desert as a whole. “Some key species are indicators of the overall ecological health of the region … most of these species continue to decline.” was stated by the mojave defenders. Certain animals such as the Mojave ground squirrel represent the health of our environment, and certain groups are inefficiently using the land of the Mojave Desert. Ultimately, this is leading to a decline in these populations.

According to Silent Spring, the United States Office of Plant Introduction has introduced about 200,000 species of plants from around the world, and almost half of the 180 major insect enemies of plants are accidental imports. According to Campbell’s Biology Textbook, these imported animals are known as invasive species, organisms that become established outside their native range. Carson states that often when a species is brought to an area they are not native to, the lack of natural enemies causes the species to become dominant and extremely abundant. These invasions are likely to be permanent, however as a way to “buy time” humans have turned to quarantine and massive chemical campaigns, instead of trying to prevent new invasions. As Carson continuously stresses chemical use can have unwanted consequences and she urges people to use the basic knowledge of animal populations and their relations to their surroundings and other species to prevent them from becoming overly dominate. For example, according to Campbell’s textbook, higher diversity communities are more often resistant to invasive species because the species is less likely to dominate over the native species. This was proven by scientists working in Long Island Sounds off the Coast of Connecticut created communities of different diversity consisting of sessile marine invertebrates, and examined how vulnerable the experimental communities were to an invasive species: the exontic tunicate. They found the tunicate was four times more likely to survive in lower diversity communities than higher diversity communities. It was concluded the diverse communities captured more of the resources available, leaving fewer resources for the invader. It is firmly believed by Carson that people should do much more simple research before transferring a foreign species to a new habitat to not only prevent a

Influence on ecosystems range from human causes like the bulldozing of a forest to natural causes like a fire or a flood.  In recent times, the introduction and spread of invasive species has transformed native communities rapidly and, in some cases, created irreversible damages.  In the Earth’s history, changes have often occurred in the ecosystems.  For example, glaciers and the retreat of glaciers cause wide-spread changes.  However, although change is a constant in ecosystems, animals and habitats often cannot adapt to the rapid alterations of non-natural stresses.  Harm to the environment from the introduction of invasive species occurs through changes in the habitat and declines in the native species.  Invasive species

Not all alien species are invasive. Many, such as honeybees, may be considered beneficial to the environment and the economy. If a species hasn’t had any record of introduction to new habitats, it is nearly impossible to tell whether it will be dangerous or not. The cane toad was introduced to Australia under the mistaken impression that it would only eat the insects they hoped it would. Garlic mustard was introduced as an herb. The best practice is to simply import as few new non-native species as possible. This also includes tightening all pathways of introduction to prevent new introductions.

The Sonoran Desert is the most biodiverse desert in the world. This is due to the age of it, the sub-tropical climate in large parts of it, the creation of micro-habitats due to the different landforms and the diverse rainfall patterns. There are about 2500 species that can be found in it. It partially has a very high endemism with for example 552 species being endemic to Baja California. Numerous desert plants have been used by humans for food and medicine. Some plants like Agave tequilana which is grown to produce alcoholic beverages have some economic importance as

The positive and deleterious effects of plant interactions is an area of important study considering a large portion of the worlds dietary needs revolve around plants. As humans wage war for resources, plants wage chemical warfare, silently, around us. In agriculture, allelopathy of plant extracts has many applications, during crop rotation, mulching, and pest management.(1) Allelopathy helps explain why invasive species are able to be so prolific and why native species are not properly equipped to deal with it. Many invasive species were brought from Europe before plant communities were well understood.

It is widely recognized that desertification is a serious peril to dryland and semi-dryland environments, which cover approximately 40% of the global land surface and populate millions of humans. The global drylands face an innumerable amount of problems that present tough and perplexing research, management and policy challenges. Desertification is the degradation of grasslands, savannas, and woodlands to a more desert-like condition, with resulting decrease in plant production and the land's ability to support livestock grazing or other human uses. (United Nations et al. 2006) The focus of this paper is to identify the causes and effects of desertification and assess how we can use plants to reduce desertification and to provide a

Natural causes leading to dissertation have been ongoing for the last few thousand years. That is to say, since the start of the world. As Brady, Nyle C., and Ray R. Weil. state in their book Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils “Water deficiency is a major characteristic of these (arid) soils.” Soils without consistent water and the ability to store water require excessive care. Other natural causes are wild animal overpopulation or underpopulation, bare land, forest fires and natural disasters. While these many causes may seem overwhelming to correct there is much hope for arid lands.