Research /Project Results:

Pinon Juniper Transition Zone Upper Sonoran Desert

 

 

This image shows the Pinon - Juniper transition zone in this study.  While this is a desert biome, as altitude increases, so does soil moisture and organic content.  This leads to a slightly more lush vegetation than is found on the desert floor. This is a transition zone, part way between the Lower Sonoran Desert, and the Ponderosa Pine Coniferous forest higher up than this.   Note the students working in the back left of the image.

 

 

School: Oak Tree Elementary

e-mail: Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Guerrero

Class: Grade 6

    An integral part of the Footprints in the Desert is the gathering of real data at field sites.  Throughout the fall of 2000, our sixth grade classes visited both constructed and undisturbed sites located in a variety of life zones.  These field studies correlated with classroom research of world biomes.  They allowed the students to apply textbook and Internet research to hands - on experiences.  When the students returned to the classroom, they then organized and analyzed the data.  One important step was quantifying the data in order to determine the dominant species of each life zone.  They were then able to "ground proof" the information presented in the texts and websites.  The following are the write up and the field study data by the students.

 

     

This image shows an old gnarled juniper tree.  Trees like this may not be very large, but are often very old.  In harsh climates they grow very slowly.  Small trees like this on the Canadian Niagara escarpment have been found to be 1500 years old.  Some Bristlecone Pine, found in similar areas, have been found to be more than 3000 years old.

 

      Student Project Methodology

  Oak Tree’s sixth graders in Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Guerrero’s classed studied the Piñon-Juniper Transition Zone.  The 6th graders studied a site at Round Valley Road.  They figured out how to look up plants and animals in the field guidebooks.  They also learned how animals and plants depended on each other to survive.  The students took soil samples, the temperature of the air and soil and identified the clouds.  The information was recorded on field study protocols.  The class also took pictures of plants and animals using a digital camera.

 

 

Abiotic Site Description

Type of Ecosystem: Pinon Juniper Transition Upper Sonoran Desert 

The exact location was 34.2048° N and 111.3117° W.  The relative location was 20 miles south of Payson on Round Valley Road.  The air temperature was 70° F.  It was at 4,500 feet.   

Latitude: 34.204 degrees north

   Longitude: 111.3117 degrees west

                                                        Relative Light  =  moderate sun

                                                        Relative Wind  =  breezey                                 

 

This is a close up view of cactus spines.  The spines are actually reduced leaves.  Leaves normally have a large surface area, which can cause them to lose a lot of water.  Since losing water would be detrimental in this environment, the cacti have evolved leaves that are reduced to spines.   The epidermis of the stem is green, to take over the job of photosynthesis that the leaves (now spines) used to do.  The spines (leaves) have taken over the role of thick bark, that is they now protect the stem of the plant from birds and rodents that wish to chew the stem to gain moisture! 

 

Click on the image of the cactus spines to move on to see the data that the students gathered in their study.

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