Vegetation is Disappearing Across the Mojave Desert

Every year that passes, it seems increasingly evident that climate change is having a real impact on our world. While many of these effects can be seen around the globe, one notable effect is the decreasing vegetation in the Mohave Desert. The decrease in vegetation effect came into view when analyzing the dataset vegetation.csv from the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, in which a team of researchers took measurements from 250 springs across the Mojave Desert from 2016 to 2025. These measurements included observations of the vegetation surrounding the springs.

Data Analysis Key Findings

• Entries: The dataset contains 5136 entries with information on vegetation observations across different parks and sites over several field seasons.
• Vegetation: The analysis identified the following vegetation types as showing a decrease in occurrences between the earliest and latest years in the dataset: 'Bryophyte', 'Cattail', 'Forb', 'Grass', 'Non-Plant', 'Reed', 'Rush', 'Sedge', 'Woody 2-4m', 'Woody <2m', and 'Woody >4m'.
• Visualization: A line plot visually represents the trend of each vegetation type's count over time, aiding in the identification of declining trends.

Eleven vegetation types were identified to have a downward trend in occurrence, with Bryophyte, Cattail, Grass, and Forb showing the most significant decrease throughout the years. Decreasing vegetation may pose a threat to the wildlife that depend on it, making it worse for those animals already listed as endangered.

Data Analysis: Kaggle

Data Source: Data.gov