RESEARCH AREA (text only version)

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.

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:

• NAWCA: National Association for Wetlands Conservation (USFWS) has sponsored revegetation in mesquite bosques, cottonwood groves, and wetlands of the Colorado River.
• Phragmites: Ecophysiological experiments to discover why an introduced genotype of common reed is spreading through the east coast salt marshes (USFWS, USGS).
• Redhawk Power Plant: Revegetation of abandoned farm land.
• 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)
• Stabilizing mine tailings on the San Pedro River with Big Sacaton Grass (BLM)
• Twentynine Palms Water District: Saltbush plants used to absorb effluent from a flouride removal treatment plant.

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.

Locations we have monitored include:

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.

Some of the locations we have mapped include: