BACKGROUND Ambient particulate matter (PM) has an adverse effect on respiratory morbidity. Desert dust outbreaks contribute to increased PM levels but the toxicity of desert dust mixed with anthropogenic pollutants needs clarification. METHODS We identified 132 days with desert dust episodes and 177 matched days by day of the week, season, temperature and humidity between 2001 and 2006 in Ath...

Food production is the main challenge for developing arid regions due to restricted access fresh water. This study combines environmental know-how of two coastal desert on American continent with similar geographical characteristics propose a general model circular economy in stressed conditions. The Atacama Desert, located Chile, driest place Earth. Due lack rainfall decades, possibility growi...

Ongoing cti sruption of ancient , varnished desert pave ment surfaces ncar Death Valley Nat ional Park is inferred to be the result of unusually intense animal foraging activity. lncreased levels of biotllrbation are associated with enhanced vegetation growth stimulated by recen t EI Nino precipitation. The occurrence of abundant, recen tly overturned, varnished clasts suggests that the pavemen...

Current global changes are putting both biodiversity and the processes that depend on it at risk. This is especially true for semi-arid regions and the flagship groups that inhabit them, such as amphibians and reptiles. Semi-arid regions are often thought to have lower biodiversity and thus have been overlooked, resulting in the underestimation of their biological richness. Therefore, the aim o...

Common ravens (Corvus corax) are a major predator on the threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus [= Xerobates] agassizii). Large numbers of juvenile tortoise shells have been found beneath known raven nests and perches; many shells that show evidence consistent with raven predation have been found sporadically throughout the range of the tortoise; significant proportional decreases in juvenile siz...

Desert dust perturbs climate by directly and indirectly interacting with incoming solar and outgoing long wave radiation, thereby changing precipitation and temperature, in addition to modifying ocean and land biogeochemistry. While we know that desert dust is sensitive to perturbations in climate and human land use, previous studies have been unable to determine whether humans were increasing ...

The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge is a 132 mile race through the desert with autonomous robotic vehicles. Lasers mounted on the car roof provide a map of the road up to 20 meters ahead of the car but the car needs to see further in order to go fast enough to win the race. Computer vision can extend that map of the road ahead but desert road is notoriously similar to the surrounding desert. The CAR...

We use analyses of phylogeographic population structure across a suite of 12 mammalian, avian, amphibian, and reptilian species and species-groups to assess the role of Late Miocene to Pleistocene geological history in the evolution of a distinct Baja California Peninsular Desert biota. Comparative examination of phylogroup distributions provides support for previously hypothesized vicariant ev...