Existing comment:
Native Grasses -- Keystone of Diversity
As the desert is warmed by the sun, heated air rises, creating uplifting thermal winds. You may frequently see hawks, eagles, ravens, and vultures catching these winds and circling overhead, looking for food on the desert floor below. Numerous birds of prey inhabit the Mono Basin, but their numbers and diversity are dwindling as the desert grasses that sustain their prey disappear. Native grasses, such as wild rye and rice grass, are the keystones of diversity, providing abundant seeds and other high quality forage for wildlife.
Hundreds of thousands of domestic sheep grazed in the Mono Basin during the mid–1800s. Overgrazing and trampling of vegetation changed the primary composition of this desert grassland to sagebrush. Suppression of natural wildfires also contributed to the decline of native grasses. Fires helped to maintain the open spaces needed for seed germination.
Sage grouse and pronghorn antelope populations have also declined with the loss of native grasses. Archaeological records showed that pronghorn antelope where once so abundant in the Mono Basin that Native Americans would hunt them in huge drives. Today only a small herd exists in the Bodie Hills, rarely visiting the Mono Basin.
Land managers have reduced the number of sheep that can graze in the Mono Basin. They are also experimenting with prescribed burns to restore the health of the natural grasslands. Perhaps, with the return of the native grasses, species like the grouse, pronghorn, and birds of prey will attain their former abundance. |