1.
Saguaro National Park
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Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona is part of the National Park System in the United States. The park preserves the desert landscape, fauna, and flora in two districts, one east and the other west of Tucson. The park was established to protect its namesake—the giant saguaro cactus —which at this latitude is near the limit of its natural range within the Sonoran Desert. The park consists of two separate parcels—the Tucson Mountain District and the Rincon Mountain District —that lie about 20 miles east and 15 miles west of the center of the city of Tucson, Arizona. Their total combined area in 2016 was 91,716 acres of which 70,905 acres was designated wilderness, each district has a visitor center within easy reach by car from Tucson. Both districts conserve tracts of the Sonoran Desert, including ranges of significant hills, the Tucson Mountains in the west, the park gets its name from the saguaro, a large cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert and does not grow naturally elsewhere. Saguaros grow at a slow rate. The first arm of a saguaro typically starts growing sometime between 50 and 70 years of age though it may be closer to 100 years in locations where precipitation is very low. A mature saguaro may grow up to 60 feet tall and weigh up to 4,800 pounds when fully hydrated, the total number of saguaros in the park is estimated at 1.8 million. Many other kinds of cactus, including barrel, cholla, facilities in the park include more than 165 miles of hiking trails. The National Park Service publishes safety guidelines for these hikes, including advice about how to avoid heat, dehydration, flash floods, cactus spines, snakes, cougars. According to the NPS, many prefer to visit the park between October and April, when daytime temperatures may reach 70 to 80 °F and nighttime temperatures may drop below freezing. During the hottest season, May through September, daily high temperatures average more than 100 °F, the earliest known residents of the land in and around what later became Saguaro National Park were the Hohokam, who lived there in villages between 200 and 1450 A. D. Hunting and gathering wild foods, they grew corn, beans. Petroglyphs and bits of pottery are among Hohokam artifacts found in the park. Subsequent indigenous cultures, the Sobaipuri of the Tucson Basin and the Tohono O’odham to the west may be descendants of the Hohokam. They hunted deer and other animals and gathered buds, prickly pears, palo verde pods, saguaro fruit. Spanish explorers first entered Arizona in 1539–40, non-native settlement of the region near the park did not occur until 1692 with the founding of San Xavier Mission along the Santa Cruz River, which flowed through Tucson
Saguaro National Park
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Entrance of Saguaro National Park, Rincon District
Saguaro National Park
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Panorama, Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park
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Saguaro National Park West. Tucson, AZ Hohokam Petroglyphs
Saguaro National Park
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Saguaro National Monument in 1935.
2.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
Arizona
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Saguaro cactus flowers and buds after a wet winter. This is Arizona's official State Flower.
Arizona
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Flag
Arizona
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The
Horseshoe Bend of the
Colorado River.
Arizona
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West Mitten at
Monument Valley
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
4.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
California
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A forest of redwood trees in
Redwood National Park
California
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Flag
California
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Mount Shasta
California
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Aerial view of the
California Central Valley
5.
Sonora
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Sonora, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Sonora, is one of 31 states that, with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities, the city is Hermosillo. Sonora is located in Northwest Mexico, bordered by the states of Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the northwest and Sinaloa to the south. To the north, it shares the U. S. –Mexico border with the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and on the west has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California. Sonoras natural geography is divided into three parts, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state, plains and rolling hills in the center, and the coast on the Gulf of California. It is primarily arid or semiarid deserts and grasslands, with only the highest elevations having sufficient rainfall to support other types of vegetation, Sonora is home to eight indigenous peoples, including the Mayo, the Yaqui, and Seri. It has been important for its agriculture, livestock, and mining since the colonial period. With the Gadsden Purchase, Sonora lost more than a quarter of its territory, from the 20th century to the present, industry, tourism, and agribusiness have dominated the economy, attracting migration from other parts of Mexico. Several theories exist as to the origin of the name Sonora and they encountered the Opata, who could not pronounce Señora, instead saying Senora or Sonora. A third theory, written by Father Cristóbal de Cañas in 1730, states that the name comes from the word for a water well, sonot. The first record of the name Sonora comes from explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Francisco de Ibarra also traveled through the area in 1567 and referred to the Valles de Señora. Evidence of human existence in the dates back over 10,000 years. The first humans were hunter gatherers who used tools made from stones, seashells. During much of the period, the environmental conditions were less severe than they are today, with similar. The oldest Clovis culture site in North America is believed to be El Fin del Mundo in northwestern Sonora and it was discovered during a 2007 survey. It features occupation dating around 13,390 calibrated years BP, in 2011, remains of Gomphothere were found, the evidence suggests that humans did in fact kill two of them here. Agriculture first appeared around 400 BCE and 200 CE in the river valleys, the lowland central coast, however, seems never truly to have adopted agriculture. Because Sonora and much of the northwest does not share many of the traits of that area
Sonora
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Cajemé, Yaqui resistance leader
Sonora
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Flag
Sonora
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The Cananea miners' strike 1906
Sonora
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Colonia Centro, calle Pierson, Nogales
6.
Baja California (state)
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Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 70,113 km2, or 3. 57% of the mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U. S. State of Arizona, and the Gulf of California and its northern limit is the U. S. state of California. The state has an population of 3,165,776 much more than the sparsely populated Baja California Sur to the south. Over 75% of the lives in the capital city, Mexicali, in Ensenada. Other important cities include San Felipe, Rosarito and Tecate, additionally, there is a large immigrant population from the United States due to its proximity to San Diego and the cheaper cost of living compared to San Diego. There is also a significant population from Central America, many immigrants moved to Baja California for a better quality of life and the number of higher paying jobs in comparison to the rest of Mexico and Latin America. Baja California is the twelfth largest state by area in Mexico and its geography ranges from beaches to forests and deserts. The backbone of the state is the Sierra de Baja California, where the Picacho del Diablo and this mountain range effectively divides the weather patterns in the state. In the northwest, the weather is semi-dry and mediterranean, in the narrow center, the weather changes to be more humid due to altitude. It is in area where a few valleys can be found, such as the Valle de Guadalupe. To the east of the range, the Sonoran Desert dominates the landscape. In the south, the weather becomes drier and gives way to the Vizcaino Desert, the state is also home to numerous islands off both of its shores. In fact, the westernmost point in Mexico, the Guadalupe Island, is part of Baja California, the Coronado, Todos Santos and Cedros Islands are also on the Pacific Shore. On the Gulf of California, the biggest island is the Angel de la Guarda, separated from the peninsula by the deep, the first people came to the peninsula at least 11,000 years ago. At that time two main groups are thought to have been present on the peninsula. In the south were the Cochimí, in the north were several groups belonging to the Yuman language family, including the Kiliwa, Paipai, Kumeyaay, Cocopa, and Quechan
Baja California (state)
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Central Desert in Cataviña
Baja California (state)
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Flag
Baja California (state)
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Isla Partida, which is part of the
San Lorenzo Marine Archipelago National Park
Baja California (state)
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Sierra de San Pedro Martir, with Picacho del Diablo in the center.
7.
North American Desert
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This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent which receive less than 10 in annual precipitation. The North American Desert is also the term for a large U. S. Level 1 ecoregion of the North American Cordillera, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome. The continents deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, and the rain shadow-creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse, there are three major hot and dry deserts in North America, all located in the Western United States and Northern Mexico. It is the second largest desert in North America, other smaller cold deserts lie within the Columbia Plateau/Columbia Basin, the Snake River Plain, and the Colorado Plateau regions. Canada has a patch of desert along the Thompson River at the Village of Ashcroft. Western Canada Ashcroft - Located along the Thompson River, the entire length of the Thompson River from Kamloops to Lytton is at least semi-arid, but at the midpoint near Ashcroft, the climate is dry enough to be classified as arid. Yp Desert, a portion of the Owyhee Desert in Idaho Oregon High Desert, aka Great Sandy Desert, eastern Oregon Alvord Desert, northwest Lahontan subregion in Nevada-part of the Northern Basin and Range Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington, the western arid region is east of and discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotones to the northern Mojave Desert
North American Desert
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Black Rock Desert, northwest Nevada, a
dry lake in the Great Basin Desert
North American Desert
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Aerial photo of the Painted Desert in
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
North American Desert
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A geological
syncline in the Mojave Desert near
Barstow, California
North American Desert
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Unusual
gypsum dunes at
White Sands National Monument in the Chihuahuan Desert
8.
Mojave Desert
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The Mojave Desert is an arid rain-shadow desert and the driest desert in North America. It is located in the southwestern United States, primarily within southeastern California and southern Nevada, very small areas also extend into Utah and Arizona. The central part of the desert is sparsely populated, while its peripheries support large communities such as Las Vegas, Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, the Mojave Desert is bordered by the Great Basin Desert to its north and the Sonoran Desert to its south and east. Topographical boundaries include the Tehachapi Mountains to the west, and the San Gabriel Mountains, the mountain boundaries are distinct because they are outlined by the two largest faults in California – the San Andreas and Garlock faults. The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography and it occupies less than 50,000 sq mi, making it the smallest of the North American deserts. The Mojave Desert is often referred to as the desert, in contrast to the low desert. However, the Mojave Desert is generally lower than the Great Basin Desert to the north, the spelling Mojave originates from the Spanish language while the spelling Mohave comes from modern English. The Mojave Desert receives less than 13 in of rain a year and is generally between 2,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation, zion National Park in Utah lies at the junction of the Mojave, the Great Basin Desert, and the Colorado Plateau. Despite its aridity, the Mojave has long been a center of production, fed by irrigation coming from groundwater. The Mojave is a desert of temperature extremes and two distinct seasons, winter months bring comfortable daytime temperatures, which dip precipitously to around 20 °F on valley floors, and below 0 °F at higher elevations. Storms moving from the Pacific Northwest can bring rain and in places even snow. More often, the shadow created by the Sierra Nevada as well as mountain ranges within the desert such as the Spring Mountains, bring only clouds. By early June, it is rare for another Pacific storm to have a significant impact on the regions weather, summer weather is dominated by heat. Temperatures on valley floors can soar above 120 °F and above 130 °F at the lowest elevations, low humidity, high temperatures, and low pressure, draw in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico creating thunderstorms across the desert southwest known as the North American monsoon. Autumn is generally pleasant, with one to two Pacific storm systems creating regional rain events, october is one of the driest and sunniest months in the Mojave, and temperatures usually remain between 70 °F and 90 °F on the valley floors. After temperature, wind is the most significant weather phenomenon in the Mojave, during the June Gloom, cooler air can be pushed out into the desert from Southern California. In Santa Ana wind events, hot air from the desert blows out into the Los Angeles basin, wind farms in these areas generate power from these winds. The other major factor in the region is elevation
Mojave Desert
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Calico Basin in
Red Rock National Conservation Area near
Las Vegas
Mojave Desert
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Mustard blue summer sunset at
Landers, California
Mojave Desert
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Clouds reflecting high wind conditions from
orographic lift in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
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An
ephemeral lake in
Badwater Basin,
Death Valley National Park
9.
Colorado Plateau
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The province covers an area of 337,000 km2 within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries, the Green, San Juan. Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the Rio Grande, the Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with scattered areas of forests. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, much of the Plateaus landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history, to the Grand Canyon. The nickname Red Rock Country suggests the brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness, domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, river narrows, natural bridges, and slot canyons are only some of the additional features typical of the Plateau. The Colorado Plateau has the greatest concentration of U. S. National Park Service units in the country outside of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Among its ten National Parks are Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, and Petrified Forest. The province is bounded by the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and by the Uinta Mountains and Wasatch Mountains branches of the Rockies in northern and it is also bounded by the Rio Grande Rift, Mogollon Rim and the Basin and Range Province. Isolated ranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains such as the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, north-south trending normal faults that include the Hurricane, Sevier, Grand Wash, and Paunsaugunt separate the sections component plateaus. This fault pattern is caused by the forces pulling apart the adjacent Basin and Range province to the west. Occupying the southeast corner of the Colorado Plateau is the Datil Section, thick sequences of mid-Tertiary to late-Cenozoic-aged lava covers this section. Development of the province has in part been influenced by structural features in its oldest rocks. Part of the Wasatch Line and its various faults form the edge of the province. Faults that run parallel to the Wasatch Fault that lies along the Wasatch Range form the boundaries between the plateaus in the High Plateaus Section, the Uinta Basin, Uncompahgre Uplift, and the Paradox Basin were also created by movement along structural weaknesses in the regions oldest rock. Some sources also include the Tushar Mountain Plateau as part of the Colorado Plateau, the mostly flat-lying sedimentary rock units that make up these plateaus are found in component plateaus that are between 1500 m to over 3350 m above sea level. A supersequence of these rocks is exposed in the various cliffs, within these rocks are abundant mineral resources that include uranium, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Study of the unusually clear geologic history has greatly advanced that science. A rain shadow from the Sierra Nevada far to the west, higher areas receive more precipitation and are covered in forests of pine, fir, and spruce
Colorado Plateau
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The
Four Corners Monument is where the states of
Colorado,
New Mexico,
Arizona, and
Utah meet. (The states are listed in clockwise order.)
Colorado Plateau
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A map of the Colorado Plateau.
Colorado Plateau
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The
Four Corners region and the Colorado Plateau. Click image to see state lines.
Colorado Plateau
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The Book Cliffs of western
Colorado.
10.
Peninsular Ranges
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Elevations range from 500 to 10,834 feet. Sierra San Francisco, Sierra de la Giganta, and Sierra de la Laguna in Baja California, Palomar Mountain, home to Palomar Observatory, is in the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County, as is Viejas Mountain. The Peninsular ranges run predominantly north-south, unlike the Transverse Ranges to their north, rocks in the ranges are dominated by Mesozoic granitic rocks, derived from the same massive batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. They are part of a province known as the Salinian Block which broke off the North American Plate as the San Andreas Fault. Between this set of ranges and the Transverse Ranges is the complex Malibu Coast—Santa Monica—Hollywood fault, most of the Peninsular Ranges are in the Nearctic ecozone. Several terrestrial ecoregions cover portions of the Peninsular Ranges, on western-coast side of the southern portion of the ranges the Baja California desert ecoregion covers in the southern portion of the Peninsular Ranges in Baja California and Baja California Sur. On eastern side of northern ranges, the Sonoran Desert ecoregion covers southeastern California and northeastern Baja California as far south as the town of Loreto, Baja California Sur. On the eastern side of the Laguna Mountains in San Diego County the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is known for its profusion of Colorado Desert wildflowers. On eastern-Gulf of California side of the portion of the ranges the Gulf of California xeric scrub ecoregion covers the range in Baja California Sur. The higher portions of the Peninsular Ranges, especially the slopes, are home to coniferous. Cleveland National Forest covers much of the higher Southern California Peninsular Ranges, the vegetation includes oak woodlands and forests of Jeffrey Pine and Coulter Pine. The Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests cover upper slopes of Sierra Juarez and these isolated forests, predominantly Tamarack Pine, Sugar Pine, Parry Pinyon, White Fir, California Incense Cedar, and junipers. Oak species include Coast Live Oak, Engelmann Oak, Canyon Live Oak and these higher portions of the Peninsular Ranges harbor many rare and endemic species. Southern Baja California Sur is part of the Neotropic ecozone and its flora and fauna share many affinities with southern Mexico and Central America. It includes three distinct ecoregions, the Sierra de la Laguna dry forests, Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests, Peninsular Ranges index Transverse Ranges List of mountain ranges
Peninsular Ranges
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Sierra San Pedro Mártir and
Devils Peak
Peninsular Ranges
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View from Inspiration Point in the
Laguna Mountains.
Chaparral in the foreground,
Anza Borrego Desert State Park on the right of the background.
11.
Salton Sea
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The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in Californias Imperial and Coachella Valleys. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and its surface is 235.2 ft below sea level as of Feb.5,2017. The deepest point of the sea is 5 ft higher than the lowest point of Death Valley, the sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo Rivers, as well as agricultural runoff, drainage systems, and creeks. Over millions of years, the Colorado River has flowed into the Imperial Valley and deposited soil, building up the terrain, the cycle of filling has been about every 400–500 years and has repeated itself many times. The latest natural cycle occurred around 1600–1700 as remembered by Native Americans who talked with the first European settlers, fish traps still exist at many locations, and the Native Americans evidently moved the traps depending upon the cycle. The most recent inflow of water from the now heavily controlled Colorado River was accidentally created by the engineers of the California Development Company in 1905, in an effort to increase water flow into the area for farming, irrigation canals were dug from the Colorado River into the valley. Due to fears of silt buildup, a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River to further increase the water flow, while it varies in dimensions and area with fluctuations in agricultural runoff and rainfall, the Salton Sea is about 15 miles by 35 miles. With an estimated area of 343 square miles or 350 square miles. The average annual inflow is less than 1,200,000 acre feet, which is enough to maintain a depth of 43 feet. The lakes salinity, about 56 grams per litre, is greater than that of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, recently, the concentration has been increasing at a rate of about 3% per year. About 4,000,000 short tons of salt are deposited in the each year. The area was part of a vast inland sea that covered a large area of Southern California. Eventually, the reached the western shore of the Gulf of California. Were it not for this barrier the entire Salton Sink along with the Imperial Valley would be submerged as the Gulf would extend as far north as Indio. A lake exists only during times it is replenished by the rivers and rainfall and these indicate that the basin was occupied intermittently as recently as a few hundred years ago. Throughout the Spanish period of Californias history, the area was referred to as the Colorado Desert after the Colorado River, in a railroad survey completed in 1855, it was called the Valley of the Ancient Lake. On several old maps from the Library of Congress, it has been found labeled Cahuilla Valley and Cabazon Valley. Salt Creek first appeared on a map in 1867 and Salton Station is on a map from 1900
Salton Sea
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Salton Sea
Salton Sea
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Map of the Salton Sea drainage area
Salton Sea
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Original caption: Dry Bed of Colorado River Below Imperial Intake [...] River Diverted Into
Imperial Canal
Salton Sea
12.
Below sea level
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This is a list of places below mean sea level that are on land. Places in tunnels, mines, basements, dug holes, under water, under ice, places where seawater and rainwater is pumped away are included. Lake Eyre, Australia, −16 m, lowest land in Australia Lake Frome, Australia, −6 m Lake Blanche and it is subglacial, meaning that it is permanently covered by the largest ice cap in the world. Therefore, it is not included in any list on the page, if the ice melted it would be covered by sea. Extreme points of Earth List of countries by lowest point List of submarine topographical features Adjustable Sealevel Map. flood. firetree. net
Below sea level
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Sea level sign (2/3 of the way up the cliff face) above
Badwater Basin,
Death Valley National Park, USA
13.
Madrean Region
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The Madrean Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. The Madrean Region is characterized by a distinct flora with at least three endemic families. More than 250 genera and probably more than half of the species of the region are endemic to it according to Takhtajan and it shares much of its flora with the neighboring provinces and has only a few endemic genera. The vegetation in the central Great Basin shrub steppe part of the province is dominated by Artemisia species, the Great Basin montane forests include ancient Great Basin Bristlecone Pine trees. The Californian Province occupies Central and Southern California from the seashore to the foothills of the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada range and it possesses the most diverse flora within the floristic region. About half of the species are endemic, more than 50 genera are endemic or near-endemic as well. The vegetation of the Californian Province is varied, wetter northern parts of the Californian Province as defined by Peter Raven and D. I. Axelrod, as well as by Conservation International, fall under the Rocky Mountain Region in Takhtajan and Thornes system, the vegetation is dominated by Yucca, Cactaceae species, as well as by Larrea tridentata. The Mexican Highlands Province comprises areas in the Mexican Plateau region, Madrean Sky Islands Thorne, Robert F. Phytogeography of North America North of Mexico. Flora of North America, Vol.1, Ch.6
Madrean Region
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Yucca brevifolia in
Joshua Tree National Park
Madrean Region
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Eschscholzia californica in the
Antelope Valley
Madrean Region
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Fouquieria splendens in
Tucson in winter
Madrean Region
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Young
Larrea tridentata
14.
North American deserts
–
This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent which receive less than 10 in annual precipitation. The North American Desert is also the term for a large U. S. Level 1 ecoregion of the North American Cordillera, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome. The continents deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, and the rain shadow-creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse, there are three major hot and dry deserts in North America, all located in the Western United States and Northern Mexico. It is the second largest desert in North America, other smaller cold deserts lie within the Columbia Plateau/Columbia Basin, the Snake River Plain, and the Colorado Plateau regions. Canada has a patch of desert along the Thompson River at the Village of Ashcroft. Western Canada Ashcroft - Located along the Thompson River, the entire length of the Thompson River from Kamloops to Lytton is at least semi-arid, but at the midpoint near Ashcroft, the climate is dry enough to be classified as arid. Yp Desert, a portion of the Owyhee Desert in Idaho Oregon High Desert, aka Great Sandy Desert, eastern Oregon Alvord Desert, northwest Lahontan subregion in Nevada-part of the Northern Basin and Range Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington, the western arid region is east of and discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotones to the northern Mojave Desert
North American deserts
–
Black Rock Desert, northwest Nevada, a
dry lake in the Great Basin Desert
North American deserts
–
Aerial photo of the Painted Desert in
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
North American deserts
–
A geological
syncline in the Mojave Desert near
Barstow, California
North American deserts
–
Unusual
gypsum dunes at
White Sands National Monument in the Chihuahuan Desert
15.
Southwestern United States
–
The population of the area is around 11 million people, with over half that in Arizona, the most populous cities are Phoenix, El Paso, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Most of the area was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the Spanish Empire before becoming part of Mexico and it became part of the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase. The deserts dominate the southern and western reaches of the area, the two major rivers of the region are the Colorado River, running in the northern and western areas, and the Rio Grande, running in the south. Formed approximately 8000 years ago, the Chihuahuan Desert is a dry desert. The Chihuahuan Desert spreads across the portion of the region, covering from southeastern Arizona, across southern New Mexico. While it is the second largest desert in the United States, only a third of the desert is within the United States, El Paso is the major city in this desert, with other smaller cities being Las Cruces and Roswell in New Mexico. The Chihuahuan is a rain shadow desert, formed two mountain ranges which block oceanic precipitation from reaching the area. The most prolific plants in this region are agave, yucca and creosote bushes, when people think of the desert southwest, the landscape of the Sonoran Desert is what mostly comes to mind. Rainfall averages between 4–12 inches per year, and the deserts most widely known inhabitant is the saguaro cactus and it is bounded on the northwest by the Mojave Desert, to the north by the Colorado Plateau and to the east by the Arizona Mountains forests and the Chihuahuan Desert. The portion of the Sonora Desert which lies in the Southwestern United States is the most populated area within the region. Six of the top ten major population centers of the region are found within its borders, Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, also within its borders are Yuma and Prescott Arizona. The most northwest portion of the American Southwest is covered by the Mojave Desert, bordered on the south by the Sonoran Desert and the east by the Colorado Plateau, its range within the region makes up the southeast tip of Nevada, and the northwestern corner of Arizona. In terms of topography, the Mojave is very similar to the Great Basin Desert, the Mojave is the smallest, driest and hottest desert within the United States. The Mojave gets less than six inches of rain annually, the most prolific vegetation is the tall Joshua tree, which grow as tall as 40 feet, and are thought to live almost 1000 years. Other major vegetation includes the Parry saltbush and the Mojave sage, the Colorado Plateau varies from the large stands of forests in the west, including the largest stand of ponderosa pine trees in the world, to the Mesas to the east. Although not called a desert, the Colorado Plateau is mostly made up of high desert, the Plateau is characterized by a series of plateaus and mesas, interspersed with canyons. The most dramatic example is the Grand Canyon, but that is one of many dramatic vistas included within the Plateau, which includes spectacular lava formations, painted deserts, sand dunes, and badlands. One of the most distinctive features of the Plateau is its longevity, the Plateau can be divided into six sections, three of which fall into the Southwest region
Southwestern United States
–
Panoramic view of the southwestern United States.
Southwestern United States
–
Approximate map of the Southwestern U.S. using the definition of Reed, Meinig, and others.
Southwestern United States
–
Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Southwestern United States
–
The Delicate Arch at
Arches National Park
16.
Baja California Sur
–
Before becoming a state on October 8,1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, the state has maritime borders with Sonora and Sinaloa to the east, across the Gulf of California. The state is home to the tourist resorts of Cabo San Lucas and its largest city and capital is La Paz. The state is the part of the Baja California Peninsula. With a territory of 73,909 km², it is about 750 km long, the state is divided into five municipalities. Comondú is located in the center of the state with its seat at Ciudad Constitución and it borders the municipalities of Mulegé, Loreto and La Paz with the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mulegé is in the north of the state with its capital in Santa Rosalía and it borders the municipalities of Comondú and Loreto with Baja California Norte to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of California to the east. It accounts for almost 45% of the state’s territory, the municipality of La Paz is in the south of the state. It is the second largest municipality, accounting for just over 27% of the territory of the state and it borders the municipalities of Comondú and Los Cabos and extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of California. The municipality of Los Cabos is at the tip of the state, with its seat at San José del Cabo. The municipality is one of the most important tourist destinations in Mexico, the municipality borders that of La Paz to the north, with the rest defined by the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. The municipality of Loreto is in the center of the state and it borders the municipalities of Mulegé and Comondú with the Gulf of California to the east. Its major cities are La Paz, San Jose del Cabo, Ciudad Constitución, Santa Rosalia, the territory is primarily mountains or mountain ranges and coastal plains. The mountain ranges parallel the coastline and are of volcanic rock, the local name for the main mountain range is the Sierra de la Giganta and the highest peak is the Sierra de la Laguna at 2080m above sea level. The coastal plains are significantly wider on the Pacific side, averaging about 40 km, with much wider plains such as those of Santa Clara, Berrendo and these areas are dominated by sedimentary rock, especially limestone of marine origin. The state is divided into five regions, Central Desert, La Serranía, the Vizcaíno Desert, the Central Desert has desert plants, with vegetation springing up during short and irregular rains. The La Serranía is the mountain areas with significant tree cover. The Magdalena Plains is a large, flat area near the Pacific coast, the climate of the state is dry, with an average annual temperature of 18–22°C and average annual rainfall of less than 200mm
Baja California Sur
–
The arch at Land's End, Cabo San Lucas
Baja California Sur
–
Flag
Baja California Sur
–
View of the San Jose Estuary
Baja California Sur
–
Playa Santispac on Bahía Concepción
17.
Phytogeography
–
Phytogeography or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species and their influence on the earths surface. Geobotany, by contrast, focuses on the geographic influence on plants. Phytogeography is part of a general science known as biogeography. Phytogeographers are concerned with patterns and process in plant distribution, most of the major questions and kinds of approaches taken to answer such questions are held in common between phyto- and zoogeographers. Phytogeography in wider sense encompasses four fields, according with the aspect, environment, flora, vegetation and origin, respectively, plant ecology, plant geography. Historical plant geography Phytogeography is often divided into two branches, ecological phytogeography and historical phytogeography. The basic data elements of phytogeography are occurrence records with operational units such as political units or geographical coordinates. These data are used to construct phytogeographic provinces and elements. The questions and approaches in phytogeography are largely shared with zoogeography, the term phytogeography itself suggests a broad meaning. How the term is applied by practicing scientists is apparent in the way periodicals use the term. The American Journal of Botany, a primary research journal, frequently publishes a section titled Systematics, Phytogeography. Biodiversity patterns are not heavily covered, one of the subjects earliest proponents was Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, who is often referred to as the father of phytogeography. Von Humboldt advocated an approach to phytogeography that has characterized modern plant geography. Gross patterns of the distribution of plants became apparent early on in the study of plant geography, for example, Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of the principle of natural selection, discussed the Latitudinal gradients in species diversity, a pattern observed in other organisms as well. Much research effort in plant geography has since then devoted to understanding this pattern. In 1890, the United States Congress passed an act that appropriated funds to send expeditions to discover the geographic distributions of plants in the United States. The first of these was The Death Valley Expedition, including Frederick Vernon Coville, Frederick Funston, Clinton Hart Merriam, research in plant geography has also been directed to understanding the patterns of adaptation of species to the environment. This is done chiefly by describing geographical patterns of trait/environment relationships and these patterns termed ecogeographical rules when applied to plants represent another area of phytogeography
Phytogeography
–
The basic data element of phytogeography are specimen records. These are collected individual plants like this one, a
Cinnamon Fern, collected in the
Smokey Mountains of North Carolina.
Phytogeography
–
An 1814 self-portrait in Paris of Alexander von Humboldt. Humboldt is often referred to as the "father of phytogeography".
Phytogeography
–
Phylogeography
18.
Floristic province
–
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a boundary, but rather a soft one. The region of overlap is called a tension zone. However, some prefer not to rank areas, referring to them simply as areas. Systems used to classify vegetation can be divided in two groups, those that use physiognomic-environmental parameters and characteristics and those that are based on floristic relationships. Several systems of classifying geographic areas where plants grow have been devised, most systems are organized hierarchically, with the largest units subdivided into smaller geographic areas, which are made up of smaller floristic communities, and so on. Phytochoria are defined as possessing a large number of endemic taxons. Floristic kingdoms are characterized by a degree of family endemism, floristic regions by a high degree of generic endemism. In the late 19th century, Adolf Engler was the first to make a map with the limits of distribution of floras. His Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien, from the third onwards, also included a sketch of the division of the earth into floral regions. Other important early works on floristics includes Augustin de Candolle, Schouw, Alphonse de Candolle, Drude, botanist Ronald Good identified six floristic kingdoms, the largest natural units he determined for flowering plants. Goods six kingdoms are subdivided into units, called provinces. The Paleotropical kingdom is divided into three subkingdoms, which are subdivided into floristic provinces. Each of the five kingdoms are subdivided directly into provinces. There are a total of 37 floristic provinces, almost all provinces are further subdivided into floristic regions. Armen Takhtajan, in a widely used scheme that builds on Goods work, identified thirty-five floristic regions, each of which is subdivided into floristic provinces, guide to Standard Floras of the World. An annotated, geographically arranged systematic bibliography of the principal floras, enumerations, checklists, 2nd ed. pp. xxiv,1100. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Floristic province
–
Floristic kingdoms
19.
Holarctic
–
These regions are further subdivided into a variety of ecoregions. Many ecosystems, and the animal and plant communities that depend on them, are found across continents in large portions of this realm. The continuity of these results from the shared glacial history of the realm. The floristic Boreal Kingdom corresponds to the Holarctic realm, within the Holarctic realm, there are a variety of ecosystems. The type of ecosystem found in an area depends on the latitude, in the far north, a band of arctic tundra circles the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The ground beneath this land is permafrost, frozen year-round, in these difficult growing conditions, few plants can survive. South of the tundra, the boreal forest stretches across North America and this land is characterized by coniferous trees. South of here, the ecosystems become more diverse, some areas are covered in temperate grassland, while others are covered in temperate forest, dominated by deciduous trees. The southern extent of the Holarctic typically reaches into the desert, a variety of animal species are distributed across continents, throughout much of the Holarctic realm. Some of these included the brown bear, grey wolf, red fox, wolverine, moose, caribou, golden eagle, the brown bear is found in mountainous and semi-open areas distributed throughout the Holarctic. It once occupied much larger areas, but has driven out by human development. Today it is found in remaining wilderness areas. The grey wolf is found in a variety of habitats from tundra to desert. The red fox is an adaptable predator. It has the widest distribution of any terrestrial carnivore, and is adapted to a range of habitats. Like the wolf, it is distributed throughout the majority of the Holarctic, the wolverine is a large member of the weasel family found primarily in the arctic and in boreal forests, ranging south in mountainous regions. It is distributed in areas throughout Eurasia and North America. The moose is the largest member of the deer family and it is found throughout most of the boreal forest through continental Eurasia into Scandinavia, eastern North America, and boreal and montane regions of western North America
Holarctic
–
Holarctic.
20.
Endemism
–
The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, the word endemic is from New Latin endēmicus, from Greek ενδήμος, endēmos, native. Endēmos is formed of en meaning in, and dēmos meaning the people, the term, precinctive, has been suggested by some scientists, and was first used in botany by MacCaughey in 1917. It is the equivalent of endemism, precinction was perhaps first used by Frank and McCoy. That definition excludes artificial confinement of examples by humans in far-off botanical gardens or zoological parks, physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism. The orange-breasted sunbird is found in the fynbos vegetation zone of southwestern South Africa. The glacier bear is found only in limited places in Southeast Alaska, political factors can play a part if a species is protected, or actively hunted, in one jurisdiction but not another. There are two subcategories of endemism, paleoendemism and neoendemism, paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have arisen, such as through divergence and reproductive isolation or through hybridization. Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct if their restricted habitat changes, particularly—but not only—due to human actions, there were millions of both Bermuda petrels and Bermuda cedars in Bermuda when it was settled at the start of the seventeenth century. By the end of the century, the petrels were thought extinct, cedars, already ravaged by centuries of shipbuilding, were driven nearly to extinction in the twentieth century by the introduction of a parasite. Bermuda petrels and cedars are now rare, as are species endemic to Bermuda
Endemism
–
The
orange-breasted sunbird (Nectarinia violacea) is exclusively found in
fynbos vegetation.
21.
Plant
–
Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
Plant
–
Green algae from
Ernst Haeckel 's
Kunstformen der Natur, 1904.
Plant
–
Had'n
Plant
–
Dicksonia antarctica, a species of
tree fern
Plant
–
A petrified log in
Petrified Forest National Park.
22.
Animal
–
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the group to the choanoflagellates. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives and their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs, they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance, most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals can be divided broadly into vertebrates and invertebrates, vertebrates have a backbone or spine, and amount to less than five percent of all described animal species. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, the remaining animals are the invertebrates, which lack a backbone. These include molluscs, arthropods, annelids, nematodes, flatworms, cnidarians, ctenophores, the study of animals is called zoology. The word animal comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, the biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans. Aristotle divided the world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carl Linnaeus, in the first hierarchical classification. In Linnaeuss original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, in 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into two subkingdoms, Metazoa and Protozoa. The protozoa were later moved to the kingdom Protista, leaving only the metazoa, thus Metazoa is now considered a synonym of Animalia. Animals have several characteristics that set apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular, which separates them from bacteria and they are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls. All animals are motile, if only at life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals. With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges and Placozoa and these include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals
Animal
–
Carl Linnaeus, known as the father of modern
taxonomy
Animal
–
Had'n
Animal
–
The use of
love darts by the land snail
Monachoides vicinus is a form of
sexual selection
Animal
–
A
newt lung cell stained with
fluorescent dyes undergoing the early
anaphase stage of
mitosis
23.
Saguaro
–
The saguaro is an arborescent cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea, which can grow to be over 70 feet tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican State of Sonora, the saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie, in 1994, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat. The image of the saguaro is indelibly linked with that of the American Southwest, the common name saguaro came into the English language through the Spanish language, originating in the Mayo language. Saguaros have a long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. They may grow their first side arm any time from 75–100 years of age, a saguaro without arms is called a spear. Arms are developed to increase the reproductive capacity, as more apices lead to more flowers. The growth rate of saguaros is strongly dependent on precipitation, saguaros in drier western Arizona grow only half as fast as those in, saguaros grow slowly from seed, never from cuttings, and grow to be over 40 feet in height. The largest known living saguaro is the Champion Saguaro growing in Maricopa County, Arizona, the tallest saguaro ever measured was an armless specimen found near Cave Creek, Arizona. It was 78 feet in height before it was toppled in 1986 by a windstorm, a saguaro is able to absorb and store considerable amounts of rainwater, visibly expanding in the process, while slowly using the stored water as needed. This characteristic enables the saguaro to survive during periods of drought, the saguaro genome is around 1.5 billion base pairs long. Sequencing has revealed that the genome of the saguaros chloroplast is the smallest known among non-parasitic flowering plants, the spines on a saguaro, less than two meters in height, rapidly grow up to a millimeter per day. When held up to the light or bisected, alternating light and these transverse bands have been correlated to daily growth. In columnar cacti, spines almost always grow in areoles which originate at the apex of the plant, a spine stops growing in its first season. Areoles are moved to the side and the continues to grow upwards. Thus, older spines are towards the base of a columnar cactus, studies are underway to examine the relationship of carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the tissues of spines of an individual to its climate and photosynthetic history. Flowers appear in April through June and they are white and open well after sunset and close in mid-afternoon. They continue to produce nectar after sunrise, flowers are self-incompatible, thus require cross-pollination
Saguaro
–
Saguaro Carnegiea gigantea
Saguaro
–
Some saguaros are "crested" due to
fasciation.
Saguaro
–
Saguaro flowers
Saguaro
–
Edible fruit of the saguaro
24.
Stenocereus thurberi
–
Stenocereus thurberi, the organpipe cactus, is a species of cactus native to Mexico and the United States. The species is found in rocky desert, two subspecies are recognized based on their distribution and height. The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is named for the species and its English common name is derived from its resemblance to a pipe organ. It is locally known as pitaya dulce, Spanish for sweet pitaya or sweet cactus fruit and this cactus species has several narrow stems that rise vertically, growing from a single short trunk just above the ground level. These stems are about 6 inches thick and grow to a height of 16 feet and these stems rarely branch but rather grow annually from the tip of the last growth. The mature plant can reach a width of 12 feet, each stem has 12 to 19 1⁄3 inch high ribs that bear dark brown to black spines that turn gray as it matures. It takes 150 years to reach maturity, the older plants produce three-inch funnel-shaped white flowers annually which are open at night and close by the morning and have a purple or pink tint to them. These usually grow during April, May, and June, the organpipe cactus is usually pollinated by bats. The plant also produces fruit about the size of a tennis ball, beneath the fruits spiny exterior is red flesh that has been described as tasting better than watermelon. This fruit has traditionally been harvested by the Seris, who call the plant ool and this species is found mostly in Mexico, mainly in Sonora and southern Baja California. It is also known to the United States, but is much rarer, the plant is predominantly found on rocky hillsides up to 3,000 feet in elevation. It is sensitive to frost, so the species is rare in low desert areas, the plant is slow growing, and prefers well-drained soil and full sun. However, when in the stage, it requires shade. It will need this for years until it grows an adequate root system. There are two recognized subspecies, the subspecies, thurberi, is much larger and occurs in southern Arizona, mainland Mexico. The other is littoralis, which is smaller and usually grows to around 10 feet. It occurs only in southern Baja California
Stenocereus thurberi
–
Organ Pipe Cactus
Stenocereus thurberi
–
Organ pipe cactus stem
Stenocereus thurberi
–
Organ Pipe Cactus Flower
25.
Gulf of California
–
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, rivers which flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The gulfs surface area is about 160,000 km2, the Gulf is thought to be one of the most diverse seas on the planet, and is home to more than 5,000 species of micro-invertebrates. Home to over a people, Baja California is one of the longest peninsulas in the world. Parts of the Gulf of California are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the Gulf of California as, A line joining Piastla Point in Mexico, and the southern extreme of Lower California. The Gulf of California is 1,126 km long and 48–241 km wide, with an area of 177,000 km2, a depth of 818.08 m. Transition zones exist between regions, and they usually vary for each individual species. The temperature of the water in the Gulf of California generally experiences lows of 16 °C in winter, but temperatures can vary greatly in the gulf, and the water is almost always warmer by the coast than the open ocean. For example, the waters surrounding La Paz reach 30 °C in August, while the waters in neighboring city Cabo San Lucas, occasionally, the northern Gulf of California will go through significantly cold winters. The water in the Northern Gulf can sometimes drop below 8 °C, the animals most susceptible to the large decrease in water temperature include macroscopic algae and plankton. As part of process, the East Pacific Rise propagated up the middle of the Gulf along the seabed. This extension of the East Pacific Rise is often referred to as the Gulf of California Rift Zone, the Gulf would extend as far as Indio, California, except for the tremendous delta created by the Colorado River. This delta blocks the sea from flooding the Mexicali and Imperial Valleys, volcanism dominates the East Pacific Rise. The island of Isla Tortuga is one example of ongoing volcanic activity. Furthermore, hydrothermal vents due to extension tectonic regime, related to the opening of the Gulf of California, are found in the Bahía de Concepción, the narrow sea is home to a unique and rich ecosystem. The unusual resident populations of fin whales and sperm whales do not migrate annually, the area near the delta of the Colorado river has a small remnant population of the totoaba fish. This region has historically been a magnet for world-class sport fishing activities, the region also has a rich history as a commercial fishery. However, the data vary wildly according to the species being studied, moreover, changes in terrestrial ecology, such as the vast reduction in flow from the Colorado River into the Gulf, have negatively affected fisheries, particularly in the northern region
Gulf of California
–
The Gulf of California (highlighted)
Gulf of California
–
Satellite picture of gulf.
Gulf of California
–
Giant Pacific
manta ray
Gulf of California
26.
California chaparral and woodlands
–
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California, located on the west coast of North America. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Biome, the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion is subdivided into three smaller ecoregions. California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion, In southern coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California, as well as all the Channel Islands of California and Guadalupe Island. California interior chaparral and woodlands, In central interior California surrounding the California Central Valley cover the foothills, the ecoregion includes a great variety of plant communities, including grasslands, oak savannas and woodlands, chaparral, and coniferous forests, including southern stands of the tall coast redwood. Species include the California gnatcatcher, Costas hummingbird, coast horned lizard, other animals found here are the Heermann kangaroo rat, Santa Cruz kangaroo rat, and the endangered white-eared pocket mouse. Another notable insect resident of this ecoregion is the rain beetle It spends up to years living underground in a larval stage. Chaparral, like most Mediterranean shrublands, is highly resilient and historically burned with high-severity. Historically, Native Americans burned chaparral to promote grasslands for textiles, though adapted to infrequent fires, chaparral plant communities can be exterminated by frequent fires especially with climate change induced drought. Today, frequent accidental ignitions can convert chaparral from a native shrubland to nonnative annual grassland and drastically reduce species diversity, some unique plant communities, like southern Californias Coastal Sage Scrub, have been nearly eradicated by agriculture and urbanization. As a result, the now has many rare and endangered species
California chaparral and woodlands
–
California chaparral and woodlands
California chaparral and woodlands
–
Montane chaparral and woodlands in the
Santa Ynez Mountains, near Santa Barbara, California
California chaparral and woodlands
–
Southern
coastal sage and chaparral in the
Santa Monica Mountains, near
Malibu.
California chaparral and woodlands
–
California oak woodlands, in
Gaviota State Park, near Santa Barbara, California
27.
Baja California Desert
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The Baja California Desert is a desert ecoregion of Mexicos Baja California Peninsula. This ecoregion occupies the portion of the Baja California peninsula. The climate is dry, but the proximity of the Pacific Ocean provides humidity. The flora mostly consists of shrubs and over 500 species of recorded vascular plants. The ecoregion covers 77,700 square kilometers and includes most of the Peninsulas western slope. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Peninsular Ranges and is centered on the coordinates 27. 74°N113. 6°W /27.74, -113.6. North of 30° north latitude, the Baja California desert transitions to the California chaparral, the southern tip of the peninsula lies within the San Lucan xeric scrub ecoregion. To the north are the Sierra Juárez and San Pedro Mártir pine-oak forests, the climate is dry and subtropical. Although rainfall is low, the Pacific Ocean provides some humidity and moderates the temperature compared to the Sonoran desert, the Baja California Desert ecoregion occurs on the western portion of the Baja California peninsula, and occupies most of the Mexican states of Baja California Sur and Baja California. Elevation is variable, ranging from mountain ranges on the central part, plains of median elevation. The ecoregion is covered by xeric shrubs, which create varying associations based on elevation. The ecoregion has close to 500 species of plants, of which a number are endemic. California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera, GlobalTwitcher. com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg Taylor H. Ricketts, Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, terrestrial Ecoregions of North America, a Conservation Assessment
Baja California Desert
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Contents
28.
Great Basin
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The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America. The region spans several physiographic divisions, biomes/ecoregions, and deserts, the term Great Basin is applied to hydrographic, biological, floristic, physiographic, topographic, and ethnographic geographic areas. The name was coined by John C. Frémont, who, based on information gleaned from Joseph R. Walker as well as his own travels, the hydrographic definition is the most commonly used, and is the only one with a definitive border. The other definitions yield not only different geographical boundaries of Great Basin regions, the Great Basin physiographic section is a geographic division of the Basin and Range Province defined by Nevin Fenneman in 1931. The United States Geological Survey adapted Fennemans scheme in their Physiographic division of the United States, the section is somewhat larger than the hydrographic definition. The culture area covers approximately 400,000 sq mi, or just less than twice the area of the hydrographic Great Basin, the hydrographic Great Basin is a 209,162 square miles area that drains internally. All precipitation in the region evaporates, sinks underground or flows into lakes, as observed by Frémont, creeks, streams, or rivers find no outlet to either the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. The region is bounded by the Wasatch Mountains to the east, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges to the west, the south rim is less distinct. The Great Basin includes most of Nevada, half of Utah, substantial portions of Oregon and California and small areas of Idaho, Wyoming, the term Great Basin is slightly misleading, the region is actually made up of many small basins. The Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake, and the Humboldt Sink are a few of the drains in the Great Basin, the Salton Sink is another closed basin within the Great Basin. The Great Basin Divide separates the Great Basin from the watersheds draining to the Pacific Ocean, the southernmost portion of the Great Basin is the watershed area of the Laguna Salada. The Great Basins longest and largest river is the Bear River of 350 mi, Lake Tahoe, North Americas largest alpine lake, is part of the Great Basins central Lahontan subregion. The hydrographic Great Basin contains multiple deserts and ecoregions, each with its own set of flora. The ecological boundaries and divisions in the Great Basin are unclear, the Great Basin overlaps four different deserts, portions of the hot Mojave and Colorado Deserts to the south, and the cold Great Basin and Oregon High Deserts in the north. The deserts can be distinguished by their plants, the Joshua tree and creosote bush occur in the hot deserts, the cold deserts are generally higher than the hot, and have their precipitation spread throughout the year. The climate and flora of the Great Basin is strongly dependent on elevation, as the elevation increases, because of this, forests occur at higher elevations. Utah juniper/single-leaf pinyon and mountain mahogany form open pinyon-juniper woodland on the slopes of most ranges, stands of limber pine and Great Basin bristlecone pine can be found in some of the higher ranges
Great Basin
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The hydrographic Great Basin (magenta outline), distinguished from the
Great Basin Desert (black), and the
Basin and Range Geological Province (teal).
Great Basin
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Relief Map with Great Basin Overlay
Great Basin
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The
Tule Valley watershed and the
House Range (
Notch Peak) are part of the Great Basin's Great Salt Lake
hydrologic unit
Great Basin
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Ecoregions as currently delineated by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Wildlife Fund
29.
Temperate coniferous forests
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Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers, Temperate evergreen forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or mountain areas. Coniferous forests can be found in the United States, Canada, Europe, many species of tree inhabit these forests including cedar, cypress, Douglas fir, fir, juniper, pine, podocarpus, spruce, redwood and yew. The understory also contains a variety of herbaceous and shrub species. Structurally, these forests are rather simple, generally consisting of two layers, an overstory and understory, some forests may support an intermediate layer of shrubs. Pine forests support an understory that is generally dominated by grasses and herbaceous perennials. The moist conditions of rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ferns. Temperate rain forests can be temperate coniferous forests or temperate broadleaf and these forests are quite rare, occurring in small areas of North America, southwestern South America and northern New Zealand. The Klamath-Siskiyou forests of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon is known for its variety of plant and animal species. In Russia, a coniferous forest, specifically pine or spruce forest is known as bor, bors typically grow on well-drained sandy soils, sandy clay soils and mild loams. The names of several Russian historical buildings and localities refer to the word bor as the place where they were built. Cedar hemlock douglas-fir forest Waring, Richard H.2002, in, Volume 2, The Earth system, biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, Temperate forest WWF - Temperate Coniferous Forest Ecoregions
Temperate coniferous forests
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A
pine forest is an example of a temperate coniferous forest
Temperate coniferous forests
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Carpathian montane conifer forest,
Slovakia.
Temperate coniferous forests
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Cedrus deodara in the
Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests.
Temperate coniferous forests
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A temperate coniferous forest ecosystem in
Petroglyphs Provincial Park,
Ontario.
