With their tough skins, pointy armor and legendary stamina, cacti are made to defend themselves from whatever nature throws at them.
But large solar energy facilities are one threat that cacti weren鈥檛 built to withstand, according to a study by the University of California, Davis.
published today in the journal Nature Sustainability, chronicles the impacts of ground-mounted solar energy development in the Mojave Desert on native plants and their cultural significance to indigenous tribes in the region.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about iconic and threatened plants 鈥 cacti, especially, and Mojave yucca,鈥 said co-leading author Steve Grodsky, an assistant research ecologist at 澳门六合彩开奖结果走势图. 鈥淭hese are the plants most people envision when they think about the desert, and they鈥檙e also the most negatively affected by solar energy development.鈥
Location, location, location
Solar energy is a key strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the threats of climate change. But like any development, where it鈥檚 sited affects its overall environmental sustainability.
![Solar facility aerial in Mojave desert](/sites/default/files/upload/users/20180802_wildsolar_00012.jpg)
澳门六合彩开奖结果走势图 Assistant Professor Rebecca R. Hernandez and Grodsky are exploring where renewable energy can best , biodiversity and the environment to achieve overall sustainability. Their work is part of their , a research initiative of the 澳门六合彩开奖结果走势图 , and of the .
鈥淭his is really our moment to double down,鈥 said co-leading author Hernandez. 鈥淲e need to not only build out renewable energy, we also need to develop it in the places that produce positive impacts. This isn鈥檛 just about saving the cacti. It鈥檚 about our need to achieve both climate change goals and sustainable development goals, which include protecting terrestrial ecosystems, at the same time.鈥
Native plants and native peoples
For the study, the scientists measured the impact of solar development decisions on desert plants at Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, one of the world鈥檚 largest concentrating solar power plants. They found negative impacts on the desert scrub plant community, including plants of cultural significance to 18 indigenous tribes.
Among them are the Mojave yucca, a Joshua tree relative. Its leaves and fiber historically were used for making shoes, baskets, and building structures. Its roots can be used for soap, hence its common name 鈥渟oap yucca.鈥 Other plants have provided medicine, tools and food, such as the fruits and pads of the beavertail prickly pear cactus.
![beavertail cactus at desert solar facility](/sites/default/files/2020/beavertail_mojave_steven_grodsky_uc_davis_img_2390.jpg)
Management options and impacts
There are a variety of ways to prepare land for solar installations, and some of these methods are more harmful to the desert plant community than others:
- Bulldozing, or 鈥渂lading,鈥 scrapes layers of earth away from the site. It鈥檚 the most damaging to cacti, Mojave yucca and other native plants. It also primes the site for invasive grasses like Schismus, which present a fire risk to deserts maladapted to wildfire.
- Mowing also destroys cacti and Mojave yucca, but creosote and perennial shrubs can recover from it.
- 鈥淗alos鈥 are roped-off areas known to hold sensitive species that create islands of undeveloped areas within the facility. They can be effective for conserving native plants, including cacti and Mojave yucca.
鈥淔rom a management perspective, there are things we can do to help conserve native desert plants at solar facilities,鈥 Grodsky said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 best to develop solar energy in marginalized lands like urban areas, places where ecosystems are heavily altered, rather than undeveloped desert.鈥
Previous research by Hernandez, Grodsky and colleagues examined dozens of to installing solar on undisturbed lands. These include siting solar on contaminated sites (like Superfund sites), landfills and salt-affected lands. Other options include 鈥渁grivoltaics,鈥 which co-locate agriculture and solar energy, and 鈥 perhaps most promising 鈥 on the , such as warehouses.
This study received funding from the California Energy Commission and the Bureau of Land Management鈥檚 California Office.
Media Resources
Steve Grodsky, John Muir Institute of the Environment, smgrodsky@ucdavis.edu
Rebecca R. Hernandez, Land, Air and Water Resources, 530-752-5471 , rrhernandez@ucdavis.edu
Kat Kerlin, News and Media Relations, 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu