Groundwater, land use and land cover change in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge from 1948 to 1998

The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a small wetland oasis located in the northern Mojave Desert. Heavy land use through agricultural groundwater pumping and peat moss mining altered the environment prior to its designation as a refuge in 1985. This thesis evaluates the land use, land cover and groundwater changes that have occurred in the Ash Meadows NWR from 1948 to 1998. Evidence of land cover recovery was found, supporting the implementation of the refuge recovery plan. From 1948 to 1980 land use reduced land cover by 2,800 acres, while a change in land use allowed 2,310 acres of land cover to recover. The mesic alkali land cover demonstrated the strongest relationship to groundwater change (r2 = 0.83). This thesis supports past land cover-groundwater research and suggests more research is necessary to ensure future groundwater change will not negatively impact the continuing recovery of the refuge.