Ringtail Swainson's hawk Western box turtle Burrowing owl Mountain lion Mule deer

At higher elevations, you'll find grass, chaparral and pines, and different critters

As the elevation climbs, the desert turns into different biomes - also known as life zones - for plants and animals.

* Grassland: At about 4,000 feet, many of the desert shrubs and cacti are still around, but the spaces between them are filled with grass. Rainfall is 12 to 15 inches in grasslands, not much more than in Arizona Upland. But because the elevation is higher, it's cooler.

Desert grassland is found on the eastern fringe of the Sonoran Desert, but lots of mountain ranges also have pockets of grassland. About five miles up the Catalina Highway, you'll enter Molino Basin, which is a pretty good example of desert grassland.

The desert grassland east of the Sonoran Desert used to be filled with black-tailed prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets. But prairie dogs were hunted by cattle ranchers, who thought the prairie dogs would compete with cattle for food and that cattle would trip in the holes they dug.

Prairie dogs and the ferrets that hunted them are gone from Arizona grasslands now, but animals like horse lubber grasshoppers, Western box turtles, burrowing owls and prairie falcons are still around.

* Chaparral: A region of shrubs and small trees, chaparral lies between desert grassland and woodland. Most chaparral plants have tough branches and thick leaves that do not fall off in winter. In some chaparral areas, plants like manzanita, scrub oak and chamiso scrub grow so close together that people cannot walk through them.

Animals that live on North American chaparrals include coyotes, mule deer, ringtails and lizards. The Sonoran Desert turns into chaparral on its western edge in California and along its northeastern edge along the base of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. Some parts of mountain ranges about 4,500 feet in elevation also have chaparral habitats. While you're admiring the grassland at Molino Basin, look up at the slopes above and you'll see patches of chaparral filled with scruffy manzanita bushes.

* Woodland: The woodland biome starts at about 5,000 feet or so, where 15 to 20 inches of rain falls a year. The landscape is filled with trees such as oaks and pines. Unlike the small trees and shrubs of chaparral clustered close together, woodland trees are spaced much farther apart, with grasses between them.

Bark scorpions and carpenter bees live here. So do coatis, cottontail rabbits and white-tailed deer. The rabbits attract bobcats, while the deer attract mountain lions.

Drive past Molino Basin up to Windy Point for a good example of oak-pine woodland.

All content copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 AzStarNet , Arizona Daily Star and its wire services and suppliers and may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written consent of Arizona Daily Star or AzStarNet is prohibited.