New Mapping Software Helps Preserve Joshua Trees After Desert Wildfires

UC Berkeley researchers have created a digital tool that lets park officials quickly assess fire damage and target restoration of Joshua trees in the Mojave.

The 2020 Dome Fire devastated the Mojave National Preserve, eliminating as many as 1.3 million Joshua trees. In response, postdoctoral researchers Maya Zomer and Lucia Layritz, together with senior program manager Maya Weltman-Fahs at UC Berkeley’s Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science & Environment, collaborated with the US National Park Service to devise a desert-adapted fire-severity mapping application. Named the DSE Disturbance Severity Tool, it provides rapid, satellite-based assessments of burned areas, overcoming the limitations of conventional forest-focused imagery.

Park staff employed the tool after the 200-acre Eureka Fire and the 2025 Black Rock Fire to guide recovery planning. The team also launched an interactive website, Josh, which models various restoration scenarios, emphasizing high-elevation climate refugia that may shelter Joshua trees as temperatures rise. By combining immediate damage maps with long-term scenario planning, the software helps allocate scarce restoration resources more effectively. Future upgrades aim to let park crews run the models independently after any desert wildfire.