Xola Consultant Jessica Reilly Supports Endangered Species Research in the Mojave Desert

September 5, 2009

Xola’s Jessica Reilly is supporting desert tortoise research in the Mojave desert ecosystem throughout the fall.  This long-term project seeks to determine the effects of the translocation of tortoises from expansion areas of the Ft. Irwin Army Base north of Barstow, CA.  Jess is tracking and monitoring individual tortoises fitted with radio transmitters from both the translocated and local populations.

Jess’s research area is 35 miles south of the notoriously hot and arid Death Valley.  The Mojave desert is one of the driest places in North America, receiving less than 9 inches of rain per year.  The desert tortoise survives the ground temperatures around 140 degrees by digging and living in burrows, where they spend 95% of their lives.  They can survive for a year without access to water and have the potential to live to be 100 years old.

Desert tortoise populations in some areas have declined by as much as 90% since the 1980s for reasons from habitat loss and predation to (potentially anthropogenic) disease.  The Mojave population is listed as threatened.