Deserts provide a harsh and inhospitable environment for plants and animals, and the ecosystem is correspondingly fragile and prone to disruption by a variety of external factors. The Mojave Desert is a winter-rainfall desert, experiencing drought in the summer months, and occasional rain during the cooler winter months. For many years, it has attracted the attention of ecologists and conservation biologists concerned to maintain the unique status of this region. This book provides a broad overview of plant and animal ecology in the Mojave Desert, presented with a focus on data from Rock Valley, Nevada. The data from many major research projects is synthesized into a description of community structure and dynamics in desert ecosystems.

‘… important and occasionally quite unexpected conclusions add to the interest and value of this fine volume.’

J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson Source: Journal of Arid Environments

‘Naturalists, desert ecologists and teachers will find this book useful.’

Source: Tree

‘… a successful book on the existing level of knowledge of the desert ecosystem of Rock Valley and the Mojave Desert.’

W. Frey Source: Botanishche Jahrbucher

‘… will serve as an outstanding source book … With luck this work will inspire others to produce similar syntheses for other IBP validation sites.’

Steve P. McLaughlin Source: Progress in Physical Geography

‘I happily recommend this book to all who are interested in whole organism biology. It is a source book of ideas, as well as an exemplary account of one special area of great interest: an unexpected product of the Cold War. Out of the strong has come forth sweetness.’

A. D. Q. Agnew Source: Annals of Botany