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RESEARCH AREA
Desert Ecosystem Restoration and Maintenance
Photo: A human created wetland in the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico
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Goals:
To restore critical desert habitats so they support higher ecosystem functions
Overview:
Critical habitats include wetlands, riparian corridors and natural desert ecosystems
Research
Projects:
Conservation of the lower Colorado River; restoration of abandoned farmland; revegetation of abandoned mine sites.
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RESTORATION OF DISTURBED LANDS
The desert is a fragile ecosystem. These projects attempt to
return human-impacted soils and landscapes to native conditions.
Phyto- (plant) remediation (remedy) is the use of plants to remove
or stabilize soil contaminants. We emphasize the use of native
vegetation to remediate a wide variety of chemicals in the environment.
Some of the projects are listed below:
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NAWCA: National Association for Wetlands Conservation (USFWS) has sponsored revegetation in mesquite bosques, cottonwood groves, and wetlands of the Colorado River.
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Phragmites: Ecophysiological experiments to discover why an introduced genotype of common reed is spreading through the east coast salt marshes (USFWS, USGS).
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Redhawk Power Plant: Revegetation of abandoned farm land.
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Monument Valley & Tuba City revegetation projects: these use saltbush plants to remove nitrates from contaminated soil at former uranium mill sites on Navajo land (DOE)
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Stabilizing mine tailings on the San Pedro River with Big Sacaton Grass (BLM)
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Twentynine Palms Water District: Saltbush plants used to absorb effluent from a flouride removal treatment plant.
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Photo: Regeneration of native trees on the Lower Colorado River through the release of pulse floods.
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Photo: A mine site abandoned over 100 years ago on the San Pedro River, AZ.
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MONITORING OF SEMI-ARID AND ARID LANDSCAPE
CHANGE USING REMOTE SENSING
Remote sensing studies detect changes in the Earth’s surface
using satellites, aerial photographs and other non-contact forms
of data collection. We specialize in monitoring the human effect
on
the Sonoran Desert.
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Locations we have monitored include:
- Colorado River Delta
- EvapoTranspiration Research
- Andrade Mesa Wetlands of the
- All American Canal
- Natural Wells (Pozos)
- Estuaries of Baja and Sonora, Mexico
- Buffel Grass Studies
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| Photo: Buffel Grass pastures in Mexico. This plant was introduced to increase range productivity but has invaded natural habitats. |
Photo: Regenerated native trees on the Lower Colorado River
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Photo: A man made wetland in Mexico.
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Photo: Buffel grass, an exotic African range grass introduced to the Sonoran desert. |
Photo: Estuary destruction in the Gulf of California.
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FINAL
MAP PRODUCTS
A GIS organizes spatially-distributed data into maps, charts
and projections that reveal relationships among interacting factors.
We have created GIS data-bases to aid in conservation and restoration
projects. The photos show examples of mapping projects for environmental restoration.
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Some of the locations we have mapped include:
- Topock Marsh on the Colorado River
- Colorado River Delta
- Limitrophe
- Riparian Reach
- Saltcedar Zone
- Cienega de Santa Clara
- Estuaries of Baja and Sonora, Mexico
- Montague Island Saltgrass
- Ironwood Forest National Monument
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