Our desert is unique
Sonoran area offers two rainy seasons, some 2,000 plants, several climates
Deserts cover about 20 percent of all the land on Earth, and North America has four: Great Basin, Mojave, Chihuahuan and Sonoran.
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Climb and see changes
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.
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'Sky Islands'
Jutting above us, mountains contain cone-bearing trees, foxes, bears, eagles
Keep climbing past the woodland biome, and between 6,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation you'll enter coniferous forest.
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Wet and wild
Water transforms desert land into a haven for native bird, fish species
Habitat changes due to elevation are very gradual, but there is a way to suddenly change a habitat in the Sonoran Desert. How? Just add water.
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Sonoran region is vast
The Sonoran Desert covers about 100,000 square miles, an area a little bit smaller than the entire state of Colorado. It includes most of the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, Baja California and most of the state of Sonora, Mexico. This map shows the difference between these regions.
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Wolves make comeback
Mexican gray wolves were once found in the woodland areas of most of the mountain ranges in the Sonoran Desert. But a hundred years ago, wolves were all but hunted to extinction, said Peter Siminski, a Desert Museum scientist.
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Invasive plants
Scientists like Barb Skye of the Desert Museum are hoping you can help them keep the native plants of the Sonoran Desert from being squeezed out by non-native plants.
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Visit urban wetlands
You don't have to travel far to visit a riparian area. A great example of the different plants and wildlife that a riparian area attracts is right off Interstate 10 north of Prince Road.
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