The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles (261 km) long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.
Abert's squirrel or the tassel-eared squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the southern Rocky Mountains from the United States to the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, with concentrations found in Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. It is closely associated with, and largely confined to, mature ponderosa pine forests. It is named in honor of the American naturalist John James Abert; nine subspecies are recognised. It is recognizable by its tufted ears, gray color, pale underparts and rufous patch on the lower back. The squirrel feeds on the seeds and cones of the Mexican pinyon and the ponderosa pine when they are available, but will also take fungi, buds, bark, and carrion. Breeding normally occurs in summer, with a spherical nest being built high in the canopy.
The Santa Cruz cypress is a species of North American tree within the Cypress family. The species is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains within the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties of west-central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species on the Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to increasing threats from habitat loss and disruption of natural forest fire regimes. In 2016, the conservation status of the Santa Cruz cypress changed to Threatened. The cited reasoning was a decrease in threats against their habitat.
Salix scouleriana is a species of willow native to northwestern North America. Other names occasionally used include fire willow, Nuttall willow, mountain willow, and black willow.
The Uncompahgre fritillarybutterfly is a species of butterfly in the Order Lepidoptera: Family Nymphalidae that is endemic to Colorado, USA.
Glossopetalon spinescens, syn. Forsellesia spinescens, is a species of flowering shrub in the family Crossosomataceae known by the common names greasebush, spiny greasebush, Nevada greasewood and spring greasebush.
Salix barrattiana is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common name Barratt's willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across Alaska and western Canada, with also a few populations in Montana and Wyoming. These disjunct populations are probably relics from a time when the climate was colder. The southernmost population is technically in Wyoming, but it is located at the Montana state line and it is limited to one clone of all-staminate plants within an area of 100 square meters (1,100 sq ft) in a high-elevation habitat.
Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.
Salix geyeriana is a species of willow known by the common names Geyer's willow, Geyer willow and silver willow. The type specimen was collected by the botanist Karl Andreas Geyer, for whom it was named. Its conspicuous, yellow flowers begin to bloom as early as March, to as late as the end of June.
The ecology of the Rocky Mountains is diverse due to the effects of a variety of environmental factors. The Rocky Mountains are the major mountain range in western North America, running from the far north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southwestern United States, climbing from the Great Plains at or below 1,800 feet (550 m) to peaks of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine and boreal habitats of the Northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the coniferous forests of Montana and Idaho, the wetlands and prairie where the Rockies meet the plains, a different mix of conifers on the Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming and in the high Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico, and finally the alpine tundra of the highest elevations.
Erigeron rhizomatus is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Zuni fleabane and rhizome fleabane. It is native to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States. It is a federally listed threatened species.
Erythranthe gemmipara is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Phrymaceae, known by the common name Rocky Mountain monkeyflower. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where there are eight known occurrences. It was formerly known as Mimulus gemmiparus.
Atriplex gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name Gardner's saltbush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan in Canada south to Nevada and New Mexico in the United States. The specific epithet of the species, gardneri, is misnamed after its first collector, Alexander Gordon. The naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon was under the impression that Gordon's last name was Gardner.
Lycium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names pale wolfberry and pale desert-thorn. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In Mexico it can be found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. In the United States it occurs from California to Texas and as far north as Utah and Colorado.
Salix brachycarpa is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names barren-ground willow, small-fruit willow and shortfruit willow.
Salix glauca is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names gray willow, grayleaf willow, white willow, and glaucous willow. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout much of Alaska, northern and western Canada, and the contiguous United States south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico. It can also be found in Greenland, northwestern Europe, and Siberia.
Salix monticola is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names mountain willow, cherry willow, serviceberry willow, and park willow. It is native to the United States, where it occurs in the Rocky Mountains region from Wyoming to Arizona and New Mexico. It also occurs in Alaska and parts of Canada.
Salix serissima is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names autumn willow and fall willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across much of Canada and the northern contiguous United States.
Astragalus leptaleus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name park milkvetch. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, where it occurs in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Dudleya arizonica is a species of perennial succulent plant commonly known as the Arizona chalk dudleya and the Arizona liveforever. A member of the genus Dudleya, this species is characterized by long, red flowers that adorn a waxy rosette of succulent leaves. It resembles a reduced desert form of the more coastal chalk dudleya, Dudleya pulverulenta, but differs in its smaller stature, lower number of leaves, and orientation of the flowers. Native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, it is widespread in range, but is primarily found in scattered, widely separated localities. It can be found as far west as coastal Ensenada to the desolate desert ranges of Nevada. It is one of two species of Dudleya that occur in Arizona, the other being Dudleya saxosa subsp. collomiae, and is the only species on mainland Mexico and in Utah.
