Dust storms ahead: Climate change, green energy development and endangered species in the Mojave Desert
Dust storms ahead: Climate change, green energy development and endangered species in the Mojave Desert
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DOI：
10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109819
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发表时间：
2022-12-01
影响因子：
5.9
通讯作者：
Barrows，Cameron
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Smith，Christopher Irwin;Sweet，Lynn C.;Barrows，Cameron
莫哈韦沙漠包含北美最炎热、最干燥的地区，也是毗邻的美国生态最完好的地区之一。然而，城市化、气候变化和能源发展等因素的汇合正在迅速改变这一生态区。由于这些日益增长的威胁，即使是常见的、广泛传播的莫哈韦沙漠特有物种也面临着在21世纪末被赶到灭绝的危险。具有讽刺意味的是，可再生能源的发展可能会延缓甚至逆转该地区气候变化的影响，但它也是这些生物栖息地丧失的潜在重要来源。因此，保护莫哈韦面临着如何在不同的保护优先事项中进行选择的困难选择。我们认为，这些选择必然会涉及妥协，在允许开发其他地区的同时，必须优先保护某些栖息地。我们回顾了莫哈韦沙漠的保护状况，并使用了莫哈韦沙漠标志性的约书亚树(Yucca brevifoliaandY。作为一个案例研究，描述了确定应给予最高级别保护以确保气候变化适应能力的栖息地的框架。最后，利用已有的空间数据，对莫哈韦地区的土地利用和保护现状进行了评价。这一结果确定了在节能和可再生能源发展之间达成妥协的相当大的空间。虽然我们的例子仅限于莫哈韦，但我们认为这些建议广泛适用于许多受到气候变化威胁的生物群落。
The Mojave Desert contains the hottest, driest regions in North America and is also one of the most ecologically intact regions in the contiguous United States. However, a confluence of factors including urbanization, climate change, and energy development are rapidly transforming this ecoregion. As a result of these growing threats, even common, widespread Mojave Desert endemics are at risk of being driven to extinction by the end of the 21st century. Ironically, renewable energy development that could delay or even reverse the effects of climate change in the region is also a potentially significant source of habitat loss for these same organisms. Protecting the Mojave therefore presents difficult choices about how to select among different conservation priorities. We argue that these choices will necessarily involve compromises in which protections for some habitats will have to be prioritized while allowing development in other areas. We review the state of conservation in the Mojave and use the Mojave Desert's iconic Joshua trees (Yucca brevifoliaandY. jaegeriana) as a case study to describe a framework for identifying habitats that should be given the highest levels of protection to ensure climate change resilience. Finally, using existing spatial data, we evaluate land use and conservation status in the Mojave. The result identifies considerable scope for compromise between conservation and renewable energy development. Although our examples are specific to the Mojave, we argue that these recommendations apply broadly to many biological communities threatened by climate change.