A fire broke out in the Covington Flat Area in Joshua Tree National Park on Friday afternoon, burning 165 acres in an area experts say is important for the future of species in a warming climate.
National Park spokesman Meg Rockwell said it is not immediately clear whether Joshua trees in the area have burned, but she said there are great concerns about the possible damage to the trees.
“This area is important for the long-term survival of Joshua trees,” Rockwell said. “That’s that last shelter.”
San Bernardino County firefighters said the structure was not threatened.
The Covington Flats area, located in the northwest of the park, is known as the “Refugia, the Ministry of Climate,” sitting at a slightly higher elevation. Experts say these slight differences may be sufficient to allow Joshua trees to survive and continue to breed under hotter and drier climates than expected in the next decades.
The iconic tree is not adapted to wildfires. This means that fire damage can be devastating to the population.
The Eureka fire was reported around noon Friday and was not contained at 2:30pm, but the park reported temperatures of around 85 degrees on Friday, with gusts of winds up to about 20 mph in the area. Rockwell said additional firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management and San Bernardino County were called to assist the firefighters.
Joshua’s tree is cherished for its unique silhouette and its peculiar role as a lynchpin in the Mohab Desert ecosystem. But the iconic succulents have lost proper habitat in active clips due to climate change, deteriorating and developing the wilderness, says scientists and environmental advocates.
Although Joshua’s trees are now ubiquitous, climate models show that there is no suitable habitat left by the end of the century. So it’s very important to protect areas like Covington Flats, Rockwell said.
However, experts also found that many of these cooler, higher-altitude areas are more friendly to Joshua’s trees – but are also susceptible to wildfires, as the vegetation tends to be dense. Since 2020, two major wildfires have killed an estimated 1.8 million Joshua trees in and around the Mohab National Reserve.
Staff writer Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report.
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