A shift to further aridification of dry portions of the world is underway. This is especially the case in the world’s most biodiverse desert, the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northern Mexico. In addition to an ongoing more than two-decade drought this region is experiencing, anomalous heat and drought events are rapidly becoming frequent events, such as what occurred in 2020 through 2021, which are altering the climatic underpinnings of the region.

What is the impact of these recent extreme drought events on the vegetation across the region and what plant thresholds are being past?

Current work is focused on documenting the impact of these heat and drought events at multiple scales from the landscape level, to population responses, and to physiological responses within the plants.

We have created an iNaturalist project to help collect data across the desert.

Please also see this initial Drought Map to get a sense of extent of the 2020–2021 event.

More work coming soon.