Flora of the Colorado Desert , located in Southern California. The Colorado Desert is a sub-region in the Sonoran Desert ecoregion of southwestern North America. It is also known as the Low Desert, in contrast to the higher elevation Mojave Desert or High Desert, to its north.
The desert flora comprises terrestrial plant communities including: creosote bush scrub; alkali sink, desert dry wash, mixed scrub; desert saltbush; sandy soil grasslands; desert dunes. The higher elevation Madrean Sky Islands are dominated by pinyon pine and California juniper (Juniperus californica), with areas of Manzanita and Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri).
More than half of the Colorado Desert's plant species are herbaceous annuals, and appropriately timed winter rains produce abundant early Spring wildflowers. In the southern portion of the region, the additional moisture supplied by summer rainfall fosters the germination of summer annual plants. The summer monsoons also support smoketree, Desert Ironwood, and palo verde trees in desert washes. Hardy perennials and the
In the Colorado Desert's arid environment, aquatic and wetland habitats are limited in extent but are critically important to wildlife. Runoff from seasonal rains and groundwater emergence flow seasonally in desert bajadas and washes, arroyos, and ephemeral streams, and brine lakes.
Springs and seeps feed oases, freshwater marshes, and a few foothill perennial streams year round. desert riparian vegetation communities dominated by cottonwood, willow, and non-native tamarisk. Two of the region's most significant aquatic systems are the Salton Sea and the Colorado River.
While most desert wildlife depend on aquatic habitats as water sources, a number of species, such as the arroyo toad, desert pupfish, Yuma rail, and southwestern willow flycatcher, are restricted to these habitats. In some places, summer rains produce short-lived seasonal pools that host uncommon species like Couch's spadefoot toad.
Desert California fan palm oases are rare ecological communities found only in the Colorado Desert. They occur only where permanent water sources are available, such as at springs or along fault lines, where groundwater is forced to the surface by the movement of hard impermeable rock, and can be found in: the canyons of the San Jacinto Mountains, Santa Rosa Mountains, and Little San Bernardino Mountains, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park; and along the San Andreas Fault in the Coachella Valley. The only palm native to California, Washingtonia filifera (California fan palm), grows in natural groves at the oases. [1]
Vegetation types and habitats are differentiated by elevation The higher elevation Madrean Sky Islands support Single-leaf Pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) and California juniper (Juniperus californica), with areas of Manzanita and Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri).
Desert riparian habitats support Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), willows (Salix species). Introduced Tamarisk trees are an invasive species in these areas.
Endemic flora species of the Colorado Desert include:
Species endemic to California habitats, found in the Colorado Desert include:
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges that stretch 930 mi (1,500 km) from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Pacific Coast Ranges, which run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. Elevations range from 500 to 10,834 ft.
Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres, including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
The Providence Mountains are found in the eastern Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, U.S. The range reaches an elevation of 7,162 feet (2,183 m) at Edgar Peak and is home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, and the Mojave National Preserve.
The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a national monument in Southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The national monument covers portions of Riverside County, west of the Coachella Valley, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora similar to other regions with a winter rainfall and summer drought climate like the Mediterranean Basin. This biodiversity hotspot is known for being the home of the Sierran giant sequoia tree and its close relative the coast redwood. In 1996, the Province was designated as a biodiversity hotspot allowing it to join ranks among 33 other areas in the world with many endemic species. To be named a biodiversity hotspot, an area has to contain species and plant life that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The California Floristic Province is home to over 3,000 species of vascular plants, 60% of which are endemic to the province.
The white-throated woodrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found from central Mexico north to Utah and Colorado in the United States. It is primarily a western species in the United States, extending from central Texas west to southeastern California. Populations east of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Trans-Pecos Texas, previously considered to be variants of the white-throated woodrat, have since 1988 been assigned to the white-toothed woodrat.
The Madrean region is a floristic region within the Holarctic kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. It occupies arid or semiarid areas in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the Rocky Mountain floristic region and North American Atlantic region of the Holarctic kingdom in the north and in the east, Caribbean region of the Neotropical kingdom in the south.
Nolina bigelovii is a flowering plant native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northwest Mexico. It grows in the driest desert areas and at elevations up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).
The Kiavah Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in the Mojave Desert, Scodie Mountains, and southern Sierra Nevada in Kern County, California, United States. California State Route 178 connects the town of Lake Isabella to State Highway 14 in the east, crossing Walker Pass at the north boundary of the wilderness.
The Piper Mountain Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in the White Mountains 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Big Pine, California in Inyo County, California.
Astragalus crotalariae is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Salton milkvetch. It is native to the Colorado Desert in California and other Sonoran Deserts in Arizona and northern Mexico. It grows in desert scrub habitat, including the Salton Sink in the Coachella Valley.
Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a biome found mid-elevations in arid regions of the Western United States, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen junipers, pinyon pines, and their associates. At lower elevations, junipers often predominate and trees are spaced widely, bordering on and mingling with grassland or shrubland, but as elevation increases, pinyon pines become common and trees grow closer, forming denser canopies. Historically, pinyon-juniper woodland provided a vital source of fuel and food for indigenous peoples of the American Southwest. The nuts continue to be a traditional indigenous food, and because nut-collecting was also adopted by the Spanish in the 1500s, the nuts are also traditionally harvested by some Hispanic communities.
The Sierra del Carmen, also called the Sierra Maderas del Carmen, is a northern finger of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. The Sierra begins at the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park and extends southeast for about 72 kilometres (45 mi), reaching a maximum elevation of 2,720 metres (8,920 ft). Part of the Sierra del Carmen is protected in the Maderas del Carmen Biosphere Reserve as part of a bi-national effort to conserve a large portion of the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico and Texas.
Astragalus ripleyi is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Ripley's milkvetch. It is native to southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States.