Precipitation history and ecosystem response to multidecadal precipitation variability in the Mojave Desert region, 1893–2001

Precipitation varied substantially in the Mojave Desert through the 20th century in a manner broadly similar to the other warm North American deserts. Episodes of drought and prolonged dry conditions (1893–1904, ca. 1942–1975, and 1999-present) alternated with relatively wet periods (1905–ca. 1941 and ca. 1976–1998), probably because of global-scale climate fluctuations. These are the El Niño-Southern Oscillation that affects interannual climate and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation that evidently causes decadal-scale variability such as prolonged dry and wet episodes. Studies done in the late 20th century demonstrate that precipitation fluctuations affected populations of perennial vegetation, annuals, and small herbivores. Landscape [...]