Scientists from the Desert Research Institute studied a rare desert plant called threecorner milkvetch at the Gemini Solar site near Las Vegas. Before construction began, researchers found only about a dozen of the plants in the area. Two years after the solar facility was built, that number had climbed to more than 90.
The plants didn’t just survive. Many were larger and produced more flowers and seeds than milkvetch populations growing outside the solar facility — an outcome researchers say is unusual at a large solar farm.
“Normally, solar sites look like a moonscape,” said ecologist Tiffany Pereira, who led the study. “They take out all the vegetation, they blade it, they grade it, take out the topography, the soil, seed bank. So the fact that you can have a rare plant coexisting with something like this is crazy.”
Unlike many utility-scale solar projects, developers at the Gemini site avoided heavy grading in some areas and preserved topsoil, allowing buried seeds to survive construction.
Pereira said the results stood out even among other desert restoration efforts.
“Because these are small seeds,” she continued. “And they’re getting crushed by construction equipment. And I think it just demonsrates the resilience of our native species.”
Researchers say that the Gemini Solar sit construction approach helped the seed bank remain intact, giving the plants a chance to return once construction ended. The findings suggest solar development doesn’t automatically have to come at the expense of sensitive desert ecosystems — and could help guide how future projects are designed across the Mountain West.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
