Research /Project Results:

Pinon Juniper Transition Zone Upper Sonoran Desert

Page 2

 

    

 

Biotic Site Description: Animal Data

    There were lots of arthropods there.  The classes found arid land honey ants, Texas carpenter ants, and daddy longlegs.  Honey ants were the most common.  Mammals were hard to find, but the class found scat of cottontails and a partially eaten elk.  Cottontail rabbits were the dominant species.   American black crows were the dominant birds.    

                                     Most Common Arthropod  = Arid Land Honey Ant      

                              2nd Most Common Arthropod  = Texas Carpenter Ant

                              3rd Most Common Arthropod  =  Daddy Long Legs

                              4th Most Common Arthropod  =  Bark Scorpion

                              

                                      Most Common Mammal  =  Desert Cottontail Rabbit

                               2nd Most Common Mammal  =  Mule Deer

                               3rd Most Common Mammal  =  Elk

 

                                             Most Common Bird  =  American Crow                     

 

 

This is a Birchleaf Buckthorn.  Note that it has broad deciduous leaves.  Note also the increased amount of organic material on the surface of the ground.  This plant can afford to have broad leaves, since the soil is slightly more moist, at some times of the year.  The leaves do fall off during hot dry spells and grow back when moisture returns.

 

Biotic Site Description: Plant Data

    They found piņon pines.  Some people spell it pinyon, but the real spelling is like the Spanish way.  They were neat trees.  They also found juniper trees.  The most popular, or dominant, tree was the piņon pine.  They found manzanita bushes and Arizona white oaks.  The manzanita bushes were the dominant bush species.  They also found lots of barrel cacti and lupines and prickly pears.  Barrel cacti were the dominant species.  Cheat grass was the dominant grass. 

 

 

This is a Manzita bush, the dominant shrub species in this transition zone.

 

Biotic Data:  Plants

Most Important Tree Pinon Pine
2nd Most Important Tree Utah Juniper
   
Most Important Shrub Manzanita
2nd Most Important Shrub Arizona White Oak
   
Most Important Herb Barrel Cactus
2nd Most Important Herb Lupines
3rd Most Important Herb Prickly Pear Cactus
   
 Most Important Herb Grass Cheat Grass

 

This is another Utah Juniper tree, the 2nd most dominant tree species.  While it has coniferous leaves that remain on it most of the time, the leaves are adapted to reduce water loss.  The have a thick waxy coating that reduces the amount of evaporation from the leaves.

 

Click on the image of the Utah Juniper tree to return to the starting page of this study, or click on the Research tag at the bottom this page to see other studies in this or other biomes.

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