Environmental Effects Of Desertification In Colorado

Drought in California has extremely negative impact on ecosystems, and some of the animals suffer extreme damage. O’Connor, L. (2014), provided list of animals most threatened by dry conditions

One threat to the Mojave Desert today is off-road vehicles. These vehicles end up causing damage to wildlife and cultural resources. Unfortunately when these vehicles are driven throughout areas such as Johnson Valley, they cause damage the wildlife on the protected land. These off-road vehicles are driven recklessly and for the most part the driver will not stop. Consequently, the plant or animal that was in the way of the drivers course is crushed and dies. When this happens in areas like this, the while entire environment can be affected. One single plant or animal killed by an off-road vehicle starts begins a chain reaction of resource loss. These off-road vehicles are actually churning up the soil and this causes damage to the plant roots

1 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has stepped in to provide restorative practices upon 500,000 acres of heavily degraded public grasslands. This land is suffering from severe soil erosion as well as degradation due to overgrazing. The suppression of natural fires has caused shrubs and invasive weeds to encroach upon the grasslands. A full scale assessment will take place on this land before restoration efforts begin. The first thing that would need to be assessed is the soil, for it is eroding and holding little nutrient value. Samples would be taken of this soil from various parts of the grasslands including the eroded gullies. Each soil sample would be taken from at least 1 foot below the surface, to test for carbon richness below the topsoil. These would then be tested for texture, density, water retention, and chemical composition. Typically, powerful, healthy soil will contain amounts of both Nitrogen and Phosphorous, which are essential nutrients in sustainable plant growth. These samples would also be tested for any build-up of salts, something known as soil salinization. Unhealthy, salinized soil is created over years of over-hydrating and deep plowing. Excess water will suffocate root systems of once-healthy crops, and salinized soils will reduce crop output up to 20% (Withgott &Brennan, 2011). The next assessment would be in the shrubs and invasive weed species on the land. Knowing the volume and location of these plants gives way to a better understanding of

Have you ever wondered how landmarks like the “The Tepees” in the Painted Desert of Arizona came to be? Erosion and weathering are the main culprits behind the creation of these unique and beautiful attractions. The mechanical and chemical procedure that modify objects on Earth’s surface over time are called weathering. Erosion is the method of taking weathered material from one region to another. Weathering is the breaking down of rock, soil, and minerals. Erosion is the development of being eroded by wind, water, or other natural causes. Weathering is grinding out of man-made or natural landforms. Erosion is the weathering out of surface soil and rock worn way through natural causes like water and wind for example.

The Chihuahuan is the largest desert in North America-from southwestern United States all the way to Central Mexican Highlands. The Chihuahuan desert has something called the big bend region, which consists of important parts of the Rio Grande watershed in the United States and Mexico. This Amazing landscape is threatened by humans. People are living all in the desert and misusing the water supply, messing up the terrain with the overgrazing of cows and goats. The human population there is messing with the beautiful

“Change in the timing and amount of stream flows and spring and seep discharges will affect a wide range of wildlife species, livestock, and wild horses and burros. Water availability from these sources could dry up earlier in the summer as a result of the early melt of the snowpack causing increased competition for water and forage across the landscape. Pipelines and troughs installed by BLM and livestock permits that provide water for livestock, wild horses, and wildlife species over tens of millions of acres may have a reduced capacity to meet these needs” (Pellant). “The Great Basin Desert is home to more than 77,000 mountainous acres of land, 5 distinctive habitats, 71 different kinds of mammals, 18 types of reptiles, and 800 different plant species” (Grange). With all this changing it will be difficult for the desert’s water to meet animal and nature’s needs for life. One animal this has an effect on is the Bull Trout an endangered fish and facing extinction in this desert

The state of Texas is the second largest state in the United States. Due to its location and size, it covers different geographical areas and climates. These areas support different ecosystems from deserts to coastal wetlands, with local wildlife varying with the environment. With such varied climates and yearly rainfall, it is easy to have crops growing in the east and little rainfall and an open rocky desert with cacti in the west. The geological history is also varied across the state leading to different mineral deposits by region. It is easy to see that Texas is a state with many unique areas that provide a wide variety of natural resources, native crops, and wildlife.

Brooks (EPA), J. Heinrichs (UW), S. McMillin (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) and C. Wilsey (UW). Landuse change scenarios were developed by Jim Thorne and the Information Center for the Environment at UC Davis. The information in this document has been funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to review by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory’s Western Ecology Division and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents reflect the views of the Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for

The landscape is also majorly effected due to more people relocating to Texas. When people relocate for better paying jobs they make more money which increases the need or want for more toys. Due to the increase in cars, not only from excess cars but also the amount of cars being used as transportation for people relocating, there is an increasing need for space to put them. People are building bigger garages to fit all their cars which is taking away from the agricultural areas. Water supplies in the west are also coming harder to find. Many springs in this area have been lost which is bad for many areas.

According to Dr. Denning, “as the global climate changes, average temperatures will rise sharply. Because Colorado is so far inland, this effect will be stronger because large bodies of water help mitigate temperature swings and Colorado is far from our oceans or Great Lakes. Imagine the climate of Albuquerque as far north as Greeley.” Additionally, we must consider the agriculture industry is estimated to be worth around forty-one billion dollars in Colorado, which means climate change will have a drastic impact on food production. Colorado’s geographic location is problematic in itself, but the continuous temperature changes means longer growing seasons. Ultimately, the rising temperatures make plants consume more water and it reduces the annual snowpack, which creates a conundrum of issues. Similarly, we can assume a warmer Colorado will also mean a much drier Colorado, which will hurt agriculture on every level.

Due to the lack of rain in the past few years, and particularly in the last few months, California faces severe drought. This is the worst drought in more than one hundred years. The impact of California drought affects community, agriculture, organic ranchers, and dairy farmers. Because of these facts, the United States must rethink the way it uses water. Californians alone are asked to reduce their water usage by twenty percent to prevent water waste.

A current threat to the Mojave desert is its renewable energy sources, or windmills as people most know them as. About 50,000 acres of desert tortoise habitat has been built over, mostly in California. Dunes which house many Mojave Fringe toed lizards have been impacted, as well as windmills that have been built in the way of golden eagle habitats. This causes many collision between the birds, a threat that many of them face. Many of these renewable energy sources people are able to see heading down to Palm Springs or getting on the freeway to LA. A large area of the desert was plowed and flattened out for solar panels destroying many homes for animals. More and more windmills are also being put up as well with all the road work going on, more

California is in a very serious drought. It has changed the landscape, growth patterns, and lives of many animals and humans. We no longer live in a prosperous and fertile state with plenty of resources. The landscape has changed because the dry dirt receives no nutrients and the scorching sun does not help. It ruins the terrain and normal levels the ecosystem started out with. Without the crucial source and the necessity of water, nothing is fruitful and normal growth patterns of crops and wildlife are being disrupted. Animals are dying and going out of their normal habitats in search of food and water. Keep in mind, without sufficient water, crops and fertile dirt can not go very far. This will not only affect animals but us, humans as well.

Finally, based on the Mr. Savory present on how to we fight the desertification and reverse climate change. He was focused on the global rangeland, about two third of the land had become desertification, he thinks that grazing animals should be management of the grassland, so the land would not get destroyed badly. He also mentions the seasonal grassland, if the grass dying out, it will be oxidation and release the carbon. We use fire to burn the grass in order to grow the grass in next season. But this is harmful, he thinks we can put the animals in the grassland, the way can prevent the fire and protect with the soil. Which is a good idea for that. When Mr. Savory came to the United Stated and saw the national park was becoming a desert,

Desertification is defined by Scott E Spoolman and G. Miller in their book Living in the Environment as “the conversion of rangeland, rain-fed cropland, or irrigated cropland to desert-like land with a drop of agricultural activity of 10% or more”. To put this as simple as possible desertification is turning usable soil into desert. Dissertation is hard to observe but over time