<div dir="ltr"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not sure if this article was posted to the list last year, but I could not see it in the archives. This fascinating 3-part series captures the complexities of ecosystems and the importance of seed collection. </font><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">-Patricia/FWS</span><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Iconic, Vanishing Joshua Tree: Species Collapse - </font><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Evolution, climate change and sprawl threaten to wipe out Joshua trees across North America</span></div><div><div>
<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><div class="" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(120,120,120);line-height:24px;margin-left:105px!important"><span class="" style="padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:block;color:rgb(153,153,153)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Aug 13, 2013 @ 11:37 AM</font></span><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"></span></font></div><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px 20px 5px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:1.5em;width:440px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><u>Editor's Note:</u> This is Part 1 of a three-part series about the precarious survival of the Southwest's iconic Joshua trees, which are threatened by climate change and urban sprawl. </em><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">Click <strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/iconic-vanishing-joshua-tree-part-2" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(59,89,152);background-color:transparent!important">here for Part 2</a></strong>, and <strong style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/iconic-vanishing-joshua-tree-part-3" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(59,89,152);background-color:transparent!important">here for Part 3</a></strong>.</em></font></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px 20px 5px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:1.5em;width:440px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Chris Smith has a recurring nightmare. As he pulls up to his field site in the Nevada desert, something is amiss. Instead of a forest of twisted, charismatic Joshua trees, condominiums dot the landscape.  Smith, an evolutionary ecologist from Willamette University, is among a group of researchers who have devoted their careers to this fascinating plant. But these scientists are now seriously worried. A combination of climate change and urban sprawl is challenging the survival of this idiosyncratic species.</font></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px 20px 5px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:1.5em;width:440px"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:normal"> </span><a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/iconic-vanishing-joshua-tree-part-1" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:normal">http://www.theactivetimes.com/iconic-vanishing-joshua-tree-part-1</a></p></div><div><div><br></div>
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