ghostsofevolution | CTL 3A - Lessons of Joshua Tree for Assisted Migration @ghostsofevolution | Uploaded April 2014 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
In this third installment of traveling across the USA in 2014 evaluating the need for "assisted migration" of trees in a time of rapid climate change, Connie Barlow focuses on Joshua Tree of the Mojave Desert.
Her conclusions: (1) Experiment with assisted migration to learn the actual northern range limits of Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) in today's climate. (2) People get possessive about their trees. (3) Value biodiversity over "native range." UPDATE: Four additional Joshua Tree videos followed this introduction. Those 4 focus on site-specific "baseline" documentation, one of which is the core JT woodland of Mojave Preserve — which severely burned in a wildfire in 2020; hence that particular baseline documentation of JT at its maximal, lushest growth sets a crucial standard for comparing whether and how the species recovers in the decades ahead. Access an annotated, linked list of all 5 vids in the JT series here: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#joshua
SUMMARY OF THIS "Lessons of Joshua Tree" video: Human impacts and climate adaptations encountered in California and Arizona include the world's largest Solar Electric Generating System: Ivanpah. Also, the vulnerability of Phoenix to drought that impairs the water flow within the Central Arizona Aqueduct system and that curtails electrical generation via the dams along the Colorado River.
The March 2014 AAAS climate report, "What We Know," is highlighted, along with the 2014 Working Group II report of the IPCC: "Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability."
The series host, Connie Barlow, is the founder of the citizen activist group Torreya Guardians. She is the author of "The Ghosts of Evolution" and is speaking along the 2014 route of The Great March for Climate Action (from Los Angeles to Washington D.C.).
Click on the timecodes below to advance immediately to topics:
00:45 Intro to forests and climate change
02:25 IPPC 2014 reportt "Impacts, Adaptation, Vulnerability"
04:12 trees are most vulnerable to climate change
07:15 what is / is not "assisted migration"
08:53 Lesson 3 on Joshua Tree begins
10:26 road trip in CA-AZ looking for Joshua Tree
23:22 extinction of Joshua Tree's seed disperser (sloth)
25:09 Joshua Tree lags behind in moving north
26:44 map of projected future range shift for Joshua Tree
28:44 plea to begin assisted migration experiment now
30:56 challenges of assisted migration in desert
33:01 "Leaf a Legacy" recommended action
33:38 moth pollinator must be moved north too
35:32 indehiscent v dehiscent fruits re seed dispersal
38:53 megaherbivores disperse seeds in their dung
41:43 Paul S. Martin and ghosts of evolution
43:48 some yuccas have fleshy fruit
44:40 Lesson 1: experiment with northern range now
45:25 Lesson 2: people get possessive with their trees
47:22 Lesson 3: biodiversity value trumps native range
50:39 Janzen & Martin 1982: ecological anachronisms
51:42 book "After the Ice" - Holocene migrations north
55:28 Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
58:48 aqueducts in California and Arizona
01:00:10 Ten best and worst cities for climate change
01:02:25 AAAS report March 2014 on climate change
CLIMATE, TREES, AND LEGACY episodes:
1. Introduction - youtu.be/uPYDDsGaktk
2. Torrey Pine - youtu.be/6MQ9smQyJ5k
3. Joshua Tree - youtu.be/fZD8IlT8KU8
4. Arizona Cypress - youtu.be/vW_Zaowal8k
5. Rocky Mountain Trees - youtu.be/H1_usZ9E3d8
6. Becoming Passenger Pigeon - youtu.be/uPYDDsGaktk
7. Alligator Juniper Assisted Range Expansion - youtu.be/Kbyx2eKUv-Y
8. Foresters Outpace Conservation Biologists in Climate Adaptation - youtu.be/dLXmxcIZ4bY
9. California Redwoods Thrive in Pacific Northwest - youtu.be/RU6cjjGVZiI
Annotated LIST OF FULL CLIMATE, TREES, AND LEGACY series here:
thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html
2022 UPDATE: Article in the newspaper Desert Sun on the scientific studies showing demise and failure to reproduce of other Mojave Desert plants (such as Ocotillo) by way of consequences of ongoing climate change. The consequences, however, are that insect and mammal herbivores switch to eating ocotillo and other less palatable plants when their own preferred plant species die away. See "Beloved California desert plants threatened by climate change, thirsty animals": desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2022/01/21/beloved-california-desert-plants-beset-climate-change-thirsty-animals/9193421002
In this third installment of traveling across the USA in 2014 evaluating the need for "assisted migration" of trees in a time of rapid climate change, Connie Barlow focuses on Joshua Tree of the Mojave Desert.
Her conclusions: (1) Experiment with assisted migration to learn the actual northern range limits of Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) in today's climate. (2) People get possessive about their trees. (3) Value biodiversity over "native range." UPDATE: Four additional Joshua Tree videos followed this introduction. Those 4 focus on site-specific "baseline" documentation, one of which is the core JT woodland of Mojave Preserve — which severely burned in a wildfire in 2020; hence that particular baseline documentation of JT at its maximal, lushest growth sets a crucial standard for comparing whether and how the species recovers in the decades ahead. Access an annotated, linked list of all 5 vids in the JT series here: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html#joshua
SUMMARY OF THIS "Lessons of Joshua Tree" video: Human impacts and climate adaptations encountered in California and Arizona include the world's largest Solar Electric Generating System: Ivanpah. Also, the vulnerability of Phoenix to drought that impairs the water flow within the Central Arizona Aqueduct system and that curtails electrical generation via the dams along the Colorado River.
The March 2014 AAAS climate report, "What We Know," is highlighted, along with the 2014 Working Group II report of the IPCC: "Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability."
The series host, Connie Barlow, is the founder of the citizen activist group Torreya Guardians. She is the author of "The Ghosts of Evolution" and is speaking along the 2014 route of The Great March for Climate Action (from Los Angeles to Washington D.C.).
Click on the timecodes below to advance immediately to topics:
00:45 Intro to forests and climate change
02:25 IPPC 2014 reportt "Impacts, Adaptation, Vulnerability"
04:12 trees are most vulnerable to climate change
07:15 what is / is not "assisted migration"
08:53 Lesson 3 on Joshua Tree begins
10:26 road trip in CA-AZ looking for Joshua Tree
23:22 extinction of Joshua Tree's seed disperser (sloth)
25:09 Joshua Tree lags behind in moving north
26:44 map of projected future range shift for Joshua Tree
28:44 plea to begin assisted migration experiment now
30:56 challenges of assisted migration in desert
33:01 "Leaf a Legacy" recommended action
33:38 moth pollinator must be moved north too
35:32 indehiscent v dehiscent fruits re seed dispersal
38:53 megaherbivores disperse seeds in their dung
41:43 Paul S. Martin and ghosts of evolution
43:48 some yuccas have fleshy fruit
44:40 Lesson 1: experiment with northern range now
45:25 Lesson 2: people get possessive with their trees
47:22 Lesson 3: biodiversity value trumps native range
50:39 Janzen & Martin 1982: ecological anachronisms
51:42 book "After the Ice" - Holocene migrations north
55:28 Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
58:48 aqueducts in California and Arizona
01:00:10 Ten best and worst cities for climate change
01:02:25 AAAS report March 2014 on climate change
CLIMATE, TREES, AND LEGACY episodes:
1. Introduction - youtu.be/uPYDDsGaktk
2. Torrey Pine - youtu.be/6MQ9smQyJ5k
3. Joshua Tree - youtu.be/fZD8IlT8KU8
4. Arizona Cypress - youtu.be/vW_Zaowal8k
5. Rocky Mountain Trees - youtu.be/H1_usZ9E3d8
6. Becoming Passenger Pigeon - youtu.be/uPYDDsGaktk
7. Alligator Juniper Assisted Range Expansion - youtu.be/Kbyx2eKUv-Y
8. Foresters Outpace Conservation Biologists in Climate Adaptation - youtu.be/dLXmxcIZ4bY
9. California Redwoods Thrive in Pacific Northwest - youtu.be/RU6cjjGVZiI
Annotated LIST OF FULL CLIMATE, TREES, AND LEGACY series here:
thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html
2022 UPDATE: Article in the newspaper Desert Sun on the scientific studies showing demise and failure to reproduce of other Mojave Desert plants (such as Ocotillo) by way of consequences of ongoing climate change. The consequences, however, are that insect and mammal herbivores switch to eating ocotillo and other less palatable plants when their own preferred plant species die away. See "Beloved California desert plants threatened by climate change, thirsty animals": desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2022/01/21/beloved-california-desert-plants-beset-climate-change-thirsty-animals/9193421002
