Stabilized Shielded Desert Sand Fields

Background

Description and distribution  Description and Distribution. This community is essentially similar to Stabilized and Partially Stabilized Desert Sand Field except that sand source and sand transport systems which would supply sand to the sand fields have been interrupted or shielded. This natural community occurs west of the existing Whitewater Floodplain Preserve, adjacent to the recharge ponds which shield this dune area. It also includes most of the remaining sand fields that make up the "big dune" south of Interstate 10, and portions of the sand fields south of the Indio Hills and east of the Coachella Valley Preserve. There are approximately 14,528 acres of this community in the Plan area, of which only 9% is currently on public or private conservation land. Associated Covered Species. Species that are associated with this community include the Palm Springs ground squirrel, Palm Springs pocket mouse, flat-tailed horned lizard, Le Conte's thrasher, burrowing owl, Coachella Valley Jerusalem cricket, Coachella Valley grasshopper, and Coachella Valley milkvetch.