Ways to Improve Environmental Problems in the Desert

Like many other areas of the world, the desert suffers from environmental problems that endanger and can cause extinction of native plant and animal species and the loss of sensitive habitats. The tendency of human populations to spread into uninhabited areas, and sometimes bring industrial operations into a desert ecosystem, can lead to problems. Remedies seek to reverse the damage and protect desert environments.

Endangered Plants

• Many plants native to desert biomes are endangered, and some have gone extinct. Threatened and endangered desert plant species include purple sage, remote rabbit bush, sheep flea bane and Cane Spring evening primrose. Using desert land for grazing animals, potassium cyanide in gold mining and irrigation methods that add too much salt to the soil can lead to loss of plant life. Solutions include protecting desert areas from grazing animals, using alternative mining methods, and using existing water supplies more efficiently to improve soil conditions. Planting legumes that release nitrogen into the soil can make it more fertile, and rotating crops can protect fragile soil.

Endangered Animals

• Many of the same problems facing desert plants endanger desert animals. Problems include grazing animals that destroy native animal food supplies and habitats, and use of potassium cyanide and depositing of nuclear waste in deserts, which can poison wildlife. Many conservation efforts divide deserts into zones that protect millions of acres of land from commercial use and limit access to non-motorized use. The areas that permit uses such as mining, livestock grazing, recreation, energy, and utility development require damage to be repaired by users. The U.S. government has established wildlife refuges in deserts that contain threatened and endangered species such as the desert tortoise, Pahrump poolfish, Townsend's big-eared bat, spotted bat, ferruginous hawk, burrowing owl and myotis. After nurturing by the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle were removed from the endangered species list.

Desert Habitats

• Fires, drought and human activities in the desert can alter desert habitats, causing loss of natural environment. Slow-growing desert shrubs and trees that burn are often replaced by fast-growing grass, and drought causes the loss of natural water holes that support much of the life in deserts. Use of desert land for commercial and recreational purposes can damage habitats. Possible solutions to maintain desert habitats in their natural form include planting sand-fixing shrubs and trees, zoning many desert areas to prohibit human activities such as riding all-terrain vehicles and nuclear testing, and digging narrow trenches in the ground to trap rain and plant seeds.