Vehicular Recreation in Arid Land Dunes: Biotic Responses and Management Alternatives

Abstract

Sand dunes are a biologically unique fraction of arid land ecosystems. In the southwestern United States they make up only about 0.6% of the surface area (Clements et al., 1957). Throughout this region they have a disjunct distribution and are highly variable, occurring at different elevations and climatic regimes. Desert dunes vary from hummocks less than 1 m high in washes or around dry lake beds to continuous masses covering 500 km² with peaks up to 200 m above the surrounding land. Most North American dunes are geologically recent, formed by wind-blown deposits from dry lake beds dating from the Pleistocene (10,000+ years B.P.) or earlier. Among the larger inland systems are those at the Great Sand Dunes National Monument (Colorado), White Sands National Monument (New Mexico), Big Dune (Nevada), and the Algodones (= Imperial Sand Hills), Eureka, Dumont, Kelso, Garnet, and Panamint Valley Dunes (California). Several of these are tourist attractions because dunes are intrinsically scenic and provide wilderness solitude.

The views and conclusions contained in this chapter are based on the authors’ studies or experiences and do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint or policy of any U.S. government agency.