Download Joshua Tree - Endangered Species Coalition

Endangered Species Coalition 2016 Top 10 Report Nominating Form
Deadline: July 29, 2016
General Information
Nominating Organizations: Please use this Column to Provide the Requested Information
1
Organization & Web address
2
Contact name for species info
3
Address
4
Email & phone
5
Communications staff contact name
6
Email & phone
General Species Information
7
Common name, genus, and species
8
Geographic range
9
Conservation status
10 Remaining population size
Report Questions
WildEarth Guardians, www.wildearthguardians.org & Native Plants Conservation
Campaign, www.plantsocieties.org
Taylor Jones
2590 Walnut St., Denver, CO, 80205
[email protected], 505-490-5141
Lori Colt
[email protected], 760-405-898
Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia
The Mojave desert of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Petitioned for ESA listing
Unknown
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12
Can you provide high-resolution photos?
Yes
If your species is selected, will you use the
Yes
report to advocate for the species?
13 5 free reports provided; additional copies =
0
$2.60/each. If you’d like additional copies,
how many (bulk orders may be cheaper)?
Public Engagement Questions (Please explain why the species is interesting, why it matters, why decision-makers + the public should care.)0
14
Provide background information, including
interesting facts, for the species profile.
The Joshua tree is a species of Yucca in the Agave family. It is a succulent, like all
Agaves, not a tree, per se. It is large (up to 70 feet tall), and long-lived (individuals may
live more than 200 years). Many species of birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles
depend on the Joshua tree for food, shade, water, and habitat. Native Americans used
it for food, fiber and construction. Its iconic and unusual morphology make it one of
the most recognized and beloved symbols of the southwestern high desert. For this
reason, Joshua Tree National Park was designated to conserve the species and the
ecosystem that depends on it. The Joshua Tree is pollinated by a single species of
moth – the yucca moth – by an intricate and specialized mechanism that ends with
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
moth eggs being laid in the Joshua tree flower. Yucca moth larvae feed on Joshua tree
seeds as they develop. See Baker, Herbert G. 1986. Yuccas and yucca moths — a
historical commentary. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 73: 556-564. [379]
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What is your organization’s most important
lead message for the public about this
species’ decline to be included in the report?
Is your NGO saving the species? If yes, how?
How can individuals help? Please be specific.
18
If we don’t halt climate change, we will likely lose Joshua trees forever.
WildEarth Guardians petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species as
“threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The NPCC is working to raise awareness of the plight of the Joshua tree and other
imperiled species, to increase staffing, funding and legal requirements for imperiled
plant conservation, and to increase understanding of the threats that climate change
poses to plants and ecosystems.
Individuals can contact their elected officials to ask for increased funding for invasive
species control and fire prevention in Joshua Tree habitat. They can oppose the
exploding housing and energy development in the area. They can also speak out for
programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, such as
rooftop solar, vehicle emission controls, and energy conservation.
The administration should commit to combating climate change by ceasing oil and gas
development and coal mining on public lands and offshore.
What action should the new administration
take to save the species? How can they
accomplish this action?
Criteria-specific Questions – Please feel free to answer N/A or “see above/below” as appropriate. Please cite scientific studies.
19
Detail the ecological importance of the
species. Does it play a critical function in its
ecosystem, e.g., as a foundational species or
keystone species? How does the ecosystem
depend on this species (e.g., keystone
predator, keystone pollinator, ecological
engineer, refugia provider, etc.)?
Joshua trees provide food, moisture and habitat for many desert species. Squirrels,
woodrats, jackrabbits, lizards, kangaroo rats, and mice utilize Joshua tree habitats
and/or feed on Joshua tree fruits. Twenty-five bird species use Joshua trees as nesting
sites. Scott's orioles nest in the crown; ladder-backed woodpeckers and northern
flickers nest in trunk or limb holes. American kestrels and loggerhead shrikes use
Joshua tree as a perch when hunting. Many bird species feed on Joshua tree
blossoms. Spiders, scorpions, beetles, and white ants utilize dead Joshua tree leaves
and fallen branches as homes in the Mojave Desert. In its dry habitat, the moisture
stored in this succulent plant can be an important water source in the dry season.
When Joshua tree fruits are fully ripe the sugar content may exceed 20%. See
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
20
Detail information on any social or economic
benefits the species provides—e.g., its value
for clean water, recreation, medicine,
scientific research, etc.—if any. (Optional)
21
Can the species be an ambassador for its
habitat or taxonomic group? If yes, detail.
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/yucbre/all.html#BotanicalAndEcologi
calCharacteristics
It draws hikers, campers and desert-lovers to Joshua Tree National Park and the
Mojave Desert generally. A 2016 National Park Service (NPS) report shows that
2,025,755 visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in 2015 spent $96,741,300 in
communities near the park. That spending supported 1,341 jobs in the local area and
had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $128,226,700. See
https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/news/tourism-creates-economic-benefits.htm
Joshua trees are already ambassadors for the Mojave Desert. Joshua trees, which grow
in the Mojave Desert and nowhere else, have become mainstays for movies, fashion
shoots, advertising campaigns and wedding ceremonies. The one that adorned the
cover of U2's 1987 album "The Joshua Tree" became a pilgrimage site for fans from
around the world until it was blown over by strong winds in 2000. See
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-joshua-20150607-story.html
Judge’s Score for Importance of Species:
22
Describe the specific threat(s) to the species.
What are the greatest impacts?
23
Detail the current and projected decline of
the species.
If not described above, detail the status of
the species’ habitat(s). What are the threats,
if any? Is there adequate connectivity?
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Describe the timing of the species’ threat(s).
Is it a current, eminent, or future threat?
Indicate if there is an associated political
threat, e.g., does an industry group or
member of Congress threaten this species?
Because Joshua trees are slow-growing and slow to reproduce, they will have
difficulty moving their range to adapt to a changing climate. They require specific
weather conditions for seedling recruitment, and as the climate warms and dries,
those requirements may no longer be met.
According to multiple climate models, Joshua tree habitat is expected to decrease by
as much as 90% by 2100.
Aside from climate change, the species is threatened by increases in the frequency
and intensity of wildfire caused by proliferation of invasive plants (such as red brome)
in its habitat. During the 1980s, development in desert boom towns such as Lancaster
and Palmdale replaced about 200,000 Joshua trees with housing tracts and shopping
centers. Many more were removed over the last decade to make way for renewable
energy facilities.
Climate change is a current, ongoing, and future threat. Changing wildfire regimes are
a current threat.
Vested interests in oil and gas development and coal mining are putting pressure on
the Obama administration to continue leasing public lands for energy development.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Judge’s Score for Severity and Extent of Threat:
Judge’s Final Score
Please submit to [email protected] by July 29, 2016, and thank you for participating in the 2016 Top 10 Report.
Additional resources:
Barrows, C. W., & Murphy-Mariscal, M. L. (2012). Modeling impacts of climate change on Joshua trees at their southern boundary: How scale impacts
predictions. Biological Conservation, 152, 29-36.
Brooks, M. L. 2000. Competition between alien annual grasses and native annual plants in the Mojave Desert. American Midland Naturalist 144: 92–108.
Brooks, M. L., & Matchett, J. R. (2006). Spatial and temporal patterns of wildfires in the Mojave Desert, 1980-2004. Journal of Arid Environments, 67, 148-164.
Cole, K. L., Ironside, K., Eischeid, J., Garfin, G., Duffy, P. B., & Toney, C. (2011). Past and ongoing shifts in Joshua tree distribution support future modeled range
contraction. Ecological Applications, 21(1), 137-149.
Cornett, J. W. (2014). Population dynamics of the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia): Twenty-three- year analysis, Lost Horse Valley, Joshua Tree National Park. In R.
E. Reynolds (Ed.), Not a Drop Left to Drink (pp. 71-73): California State University Desert Studies Center, 2014 Desert Symposium.
DeFalco, L. A., Esque, T. C., Scoles-Sciulla, S. J., & Rodgers, J. (2010). Desert wildfire and severe drought diminish survivorship of the long-lived Joshua tree
(Yucca brevifolia; Agavaceae). American Journal of Botany 97(2), 243-250.
Dole, K., Loik, M., & Sloan, L. (2003). The relative importance of climate change and the physiological effects of on freezing tolerance for the future distribution
of Yucca brevifolia. Global and Planetary Change, 36(137-146).
Reynolds, M. B. J., DeFalco, L. A., & Esque, T. C. (2012). Short seed longevity, variable germination conditions and infrequent establishment events provide a
narrow window for Yucca brevifolia (Agavaceae) recruitment. American Journal of Botany 99(10), 1647- 1654.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies