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Deserts and Grasslands
> Desert Ecosystems
Desert Ecosystems
Our deserts boast some of the most
biologically rich and unique areas in terms of animal and
plant diversity. But, arid lands remain threatened by a
variety of human misuses and abuses such as poorly planned
water projects and allocation, oil and gas development,
over-grazing by livestock, irresponsible recreation, the
spread of non-native invasive species, and the failure of
our government to fully implement and enforce the laws meant
to these fragile biological communities.
Forest Guardians focuses on preventing
these threats from further degrading our public lands within
the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts and the Sagebrush Sea.
Where significant destruction has already occurred, we work
to restore desert landscapes to once again provide healthy
habitat for the thousands of native creatures that call
these places home.
Central and Southern Shortgrass
Prairie
Shortgrass prairie is the largest
remaining grassland biome in North America. Shortgrass prairie
is dominated by short, warm season grasses, such as buffalo
grass and blue grama grass.
"Perhaps in no other North American
system are impacts of grazing so apparent. In the mid-1800s,
numbers of large native herbivores - bison, pronghorn, antelope,
and elk among others - and predators such as the grizzly
bear and wolf - rivaled or exceeded those now evident in
the African Serengeti." (Samson, Fred B. and Fritz L. Knopf.
Prairie Conservation, 1996)
Read the myths about
ranching on public lands..
Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert spans from
the southeastern tip of Arizona through southern New Mexico,
southwest Texas, and the middle of the northern half of
Mexico. Being nestled between two mountain ranges, the Sierra
Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental, account for
this desert’s unique biological communities and incredible
beauty. The mountains frame clusters of towering soaptree
yucca, ocotillo, and other distinctive flora. A mix of shortgrass
prairie and shrubland characterize the terrain that sustains
as many as 1,000 endemic plants. The largest complex of
black-tailed prairie dogs in North America exists on the
Mexican side of the desert, where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has worked with local scientists and conservationists
to reintroduce black-footed ferrets. Forest Guardians is
leading the charge to protect Chihuahuan Desert habitat
for the critically imperiled Aplomado falcon.
Read about the
Aplomado falcon..
We are also members of the Otero
Mesa Coalition working hard protect this desert grassland
in southern New Mexico from large-scale oil and gas drilling
on Bureau of Land Management lands.
Read about Otero Mesa..
Sonoran Desert
Situated at the southern tip of California
and far southeast of Arizona and crossing the U.S. border
into Baja and Sonora, Mexico, the Sonoran Desert holds the
greatest plant diversity of any other desert in the world.
The Sonoran Desert is home to the great Saguaro cactus and
other unique creatures including jaguars, ring-tailed cats,
desert bighorn sheep, the severely imperiled Sonoran pronghorn,
the Sonoran Desert tortoise, and 57 other reptile species.
The Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts together provide habitat
for more types of birds than any other region in the United
States.
Forest Guardians is currently working
in conjunction with other wildlife supporters to protect
the Sonoran Desert tortoise.
Read about the
Sonoran Desert Tortoise..
Sagebrush Sea
Vast open areas of desert sagebrush—the
prototypic Western landscape—characterize the Sagebrush
Sea. Sagescrub. Sagescrub ecosystems within this dry ocean
are in some places concentrated and expansive and others
fragmented and isolated across the Great Basin, Wyoming
Basin, and the Colorado and Columbia Plateau. Land within
this region is ecologically rich but also economically valuable,
instigating conflict between commercial exploitation and
native wildlife and habitat conservation.
Forest Guardians is working in Coalition
with other groups to promote federal protection for the
imperiled Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and greater sage
grouse.
Read about the Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse..
We are the fiscal sponsor of the
Sagebrush Sea Campaign.
For specific questions about our efforts to protect deserts and
grassland,
contact Lauren McCain,
desert and grasslands coordinator.
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