When a renewable energy company started razing thousands of Joshua trees this month to make way for a sprawling solar farm, it kicked up a firestorm of outrage among Mojave Desert residents and activists. It was a public display of the prickly dilemma that conservationists face as they fight to preserve western Joshua trees.
Smith and his colleagues have sequenced the genomes of 300 Joshua trees and counting. From genetic maps like these, scientists have found that some populations of Joshua trees have genes that make them more resistant to hotter and drier conditions. Although no research has been published on the topic yet, there is preliminary evidence that roots adapted to better collect nutrients with fungi may be more capable of sprouting a new tree after a forest fire, according to Smith.
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