It has surprised me that I have not heard about environmentalists complaining about the planned 700-mile fence along the U.S. - Mexico border. As an ecologist, my first reaction was to guess that it would be a disaster for the many endangered species in the Sonoran Desert, and it turns out this assessment is shared by The Center for Biological Diversity, in Tucson.

Many large mammals in the Sonoran Desert need access to large ranges in order to survive. The fragmentation of populations is a detriment to endangered species recovery. In addition, the construction and maintenance of such a wall will obviously result in a lot of habitat destruction in the area.

Labels: biodiversity, environment, nature