The purpose of the proposed research is to evaluate the effects of human activities on biodiversity and related environmental concerns within the Mojave Desert ecoregion of California both at the present and in the year 2020. The research plan presents and discusses the activities which will be conducted via the three principal project elements: a landscape status and change element, a biodiversity response element, and an integration and alternative futures scenarios element. These elements together with background and management information comprise the plan.

Prepared in cooperation with U.S.D.A. Forest Service, PNW Research Station, Corvallis, OR. Microfiche.

The purpose of the research proposed in this document is to evaluate the effects of human activities on biodiversity and related environmental concerns within the Mojave ecoregion of California both at the present and in 2020. While planning efforts and analyses are ongoing within individual parcels of land or for specific land ownership, at present no one is addressing these issues within the region as a whole. We consider analyses at this larger spatial scale to be essential context for understanding the consequences of actions or management plans at specific sites or areas within the Mojave. We will address the following major questions: What is the current status of the Mojave landscape relative to its ability to sustain biodiversity, particularlly native land vertibrates? How has the landscape been altered by human activities? Which stressors have had significant impact on biodiversity and related environmental concerns? How might the landscape be altered by the year 2020? What will the concomitant effects of a number of land use scenarios on biodiversity and related environmental concerns?