If the Mojave desert continues to be in a drought along with the rest of California, the very existence of the iconic Joshua trees may be threatened. An ecologist with the University of California Riverside told the Los Angeles Times, “If warmer, drier conditions continue in the coming decades, scientific modeling suggests the trees will lose 90 percent of their current range in the 800,000-acre [Joshua Tree National] Park by the end of the century.” The desert hasn’t received its annual average rainfall of four inches in several years, and the hotter, drier weather means Joshua tree seedlings die before they can establish themselves. Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith told the LA Times that because the trees commonly live 200 years, “We won’t see massive die-offs in our lifetime. But we will see less recruitment of new trees.” The park service is working together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others in a long-term study of the Joshua trees, climate change, and drought.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-joshua-20150607-story.html
