Jan 20
It just looks tired. On the cracked ground outside a village in Rajasthan, a boy in plastic sandals drags a
Native plants that evolved to handle harsh conditions planted in deserts across the world
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from T1
seen from Russia
seen from T1
seen from China
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from Japan
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seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Bangladesh
seen from T1
It just looks tired. On the cracked ground outside a village in Rajasthan, a boy in plastic sandals drags a
Native plants that evolved to handle harsh conditions planted in deserts across the world
Desert Ecology: Mojave Desert
A desert is so much more than barren land—it's teeming with life, energy, and beauty. Did you know that the desert ecosystem makes up one-quarter of California? We’re talking 26 million acres of pure magic, from the Mojave to the Colorado Desert. 🌵🌞
Within this expansive terrain, over 2,400 species of native plants thrive alongside hundreds of unique animals, all forming intricate webs of life. For this episode of Teaching Climate Together, I had the honor of speaking with Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director at @mojavedesertlandtrust, as my co-host to explore the incredible richness of desert ecology. Growing up in California, I've always been in awe of how spoiled we are here—mountains, forests, beaches, and deserts, all in one state.
Yet, despite its abundance, the desert often goes overlooked. We tend to associate biological richness with forests and coastal zones, but the desert is an unseen wonder of biodiversity. 🌾🦎 Have you ever explored a desert landscape? What were your thoughts or assumptions about these environments before? ✨
Want to watch the full video? Link below to watch!
Just a series of desert animals I made a while back.
DESERT POWER is printed and listed!!! A zine of detailed portraits of some of my vegetative coworkers at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.
If you’re interested in getting a brand new zine in the mail every month, you can hop on my mailing list at Patreon.com/wormyorchids :))
The habitats for jaguars, ocelots, and wolves are being cut in half
Excerpt from this story from Sierra Club:
As new border wall construction rips through some of the most biologically diverse desert lands in North America, it is putting nearly 100 endangered species at increased risk. “I think many people still don't realize that the border wall—in addition to being a despicable racist symbol of Trump's hateful border policies—also will wipe some species off the face of the planet and have irreversible environmental impacts, changing these places forever,” says Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity. Jordahl has traveled the extent of the US-Mexico borderlands advocating against border wall construction and routinely posts updates on social media about the topic.
To those unfamiliar with the borderlands of the Southwest, mention of the region may conjure images of a vast desert wasteland. In reality, the US-Mexico borderlands are some of the most biodiverse wildlands in North America.
Across most of the United States, such landscapes and the endangered and threatened species living within them would be protected under federal and state regulations. But using the powers available to it under a post-9/11 security law called the Real ID Act, the Trump administration has waived dozens of critical environmental safeguards along the border, including the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. That has left public interest watchdog groups with few legal opportunities to challenge the administration’s activities.
Desert Ecology: Joshua Trees Are Disappearing
I'm excited to announce my 4th episode of my independent web series, Teaching Climate Together!
Desert ecology looks at how different species have adaptations to the desert, where resources operate differently than in other ecosystems. So, what's happening to Joshua Tree?
Most species have unique adaptation abilities in an extreme climate like the desert. One fascinating aspect of desert ecology is that numerous species are endemic (they are only found here) to the desert. The desert ecosystem is a quarter of the state of California. It spans 26 million acres in California, the Mojave, and the Colorado desert region. It is one of the most biodiverse areas, with over 2,400 species of native plants and hundreds of species of plants and animals.
The biodiversity in the desert is higher than in a pine forest in Northern California. You can find more species in the desert than in other ecosystems in Northern California! The Western Joshua Trees are currently at the forefront of desert conservation recently. As climate change continues to accelerate, the Joshua tree that has one that has been identified to be vulnerable to a changing climate. Joshua Trees are not able to migrate or adapt to a changing environment. Joshua trees migrate very slowly in tiny increments and with climate change they cannot adapt rapidly.
In Joshua Tree National Park, scientists have noted that if we continue business as usual, only 2% of the range will remain suitable habitat in the next 100 years. We are looking at a crisis for this species. Mojave Desert Land Trust and other partners and agencies are working together to implement policies and solutions to protect these ecosystems. The Mojave Desert Land Trust has cultivated a multi-faceted conservation strategy that uses land acquisition, restoration, stewardship, plant cultivation, and education to ensure the long-term preservation of the California desert.
Their service area spans nearly 26 million acres - the Colorado Desert and the entire California portion of the Mojave Desert. Since its founding in 2006, MDLT has protected approximately 120,000 acres of ecologically significant land and grown over 120,000 native plants for restoration and community use. California deserts are one of the largest carbon sequesters compared to forests. Deserts have a lot of vegetation and a whole layer of soil called the crust of the soil that is essentially life and is covered in biological soil crust that is a web of cyanobacteria, lichen, moss, and fungi that is a mat across the desert that helps the plant grow but also holds carbons and puts carbon into the roots of deserts.
Follow the work of Mojave Desert Land Trust and consider supporting their work. https://www.mdlt.org/
Hosts: Isaias Hernandez & Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director , Mojave Desert Land Trust Producers: Maksim Batuyev & Isaias Hernandez & Stranded Astronaut Productions Director: Tehya Jennett & Maxfield Biggs Editors: Tehya Jennett & Maxfield Biggs
New zine in progress! DESERT POWER 🕸🖤 all drawn from reference photos taken in the desert house at work (Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago).
If you want to hop on my mailing list and get a new minizine every month, you can find me at patreon.com/wormyorchids :))