The Amargosa River Basin is an ‘island’ of wet habitats fed by a large and extensive supply of underground water, surrounded by the expansive and arid Mojave Desert that receives only about 2 to 3 inches of annual precipitation a year.  That is the topic for February’s Botany Public Speaker Program. Naomi Fraga, Director of Conservation Programs at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, will join us to discuss The flora of the Amargosa River Basin in the northern Mojave Desert of California

The region is home to a suite of rare plants and animals that are associated with wetland habitats such as alkaline meadows, marshes, seeps, channel outflows, and springs.

Much of the isolated wetland habitat is protected within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. However, threats to these rare species still remain because the high water table is in danger of dropping due to groundwater pumping for nearby agriculture and development.

Recent efforts to aid in plant conservation of this region has included two bio-blitz events organized by The Nature Conservancy, and botanical inventory and monitoring including botanical assessments of the Wild and Scenic Amargosa River. The region is home to three federally listed species in California, the Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis), the Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxinipratensis), and the spring loving centaury (Zeltnera namophila); these species rely on the ancient flow of water underground.

Naomi intends to provide an overview of the flora of the region and provide background on the ongoing conservation efforts of the rare plants, including interesting discoveries from the two recent bio-blitz events.

Who: Naomi Fraga, Director, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Topic: The flora of the Amargosa River Basin in the northern Mojave Desert of California
Where: Steele/Burnand UCI Desert Research Center
401 Tilting T Drive, Borrego Springs
When: Monday, February 10, 2020
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 AM
Cost: Free lecture; public is invited.

The Botany Society is a volunteer unit of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park focused on studying, interpreting, and protecting the botanical resources of the park.