When thinking of a place to visit Joshua Tree National Park should always be at the top of your list. In Southern California, Joshua Tree National Park, is one of the greatest national parks known in the nation. The Joshua Tree National Park is where two main deserts merge, the Mojave and Colorado deserts. It is a great destination for families to enjoy days of hiking, camping and walks enjoying all the beautiful scenery in the park. Many plants and animals make this their homes because of the strong winds and occasional rain showers. The weather in the Joshua Tree National Park is always bearable during the day and during nighttime. Summer nights make the best time to enjoy the cooler weather while experiencing the beautiful park. Dark night …show more content…
It is a land shaped by sudden torrents of rain and climatic extremes. When dealing with rainfall in the Joshua Tree National Park it is extremely hard to tell when it is going to rain. It stays dry at the Joshua Tree National Park almost all the time. The rain showers there very seldom. Streambeds are usually dry and there are very few waterholes located there. This land may appear lifeless, but within its parched environment are intricate living systems, each fragment performing a slightly different function and each fragment depending upon the whole system for survival. The two deserts, two large ecosystems whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. Few areas more vividly illustrate the contrast between high and low desert. Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert, occupying the eastern half of the park, is dominated by the abundant creosote bush. Adding interest to this arid land are small strands of spidery ocotillo and jumping cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the undisciplined-looking Joshua tree, extensive strands of which occur throughout the western half of the park. Standing like islands in a desolate sea, the oases provide dramatic contrast to their arid surroundings. Five fan palm oases dot the park, indicating those few areas where water occurs naturally at or near the surface to meet the life requirements of these stately trees. Oases once serving earlier desert visitors now abound in wildlife.
Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
National Park Services, U.S. Department of Interior. Nps.gov, 27 Dec. 2004. Web. The Web. The Web.
The geology, its history, and the presence of past civilizations contribute to much of the significance of Mesa Verde National Park. The interconnectedness of these aspects should also be noted. If not for the weathering processes and changes in sea level this formation would not exist. Without it, the ancient people would not have been able to reside within Mesa Verde. This National Park now serves as a tool to help conserve the remains of these past civilizations as well as to help educate today’s society on the significance behind this astonishing geologic
When you think of an ecosystem, you might think of lush forests, or wide oceans, abundant with wildlife. However, the Saguaro desert is unique in its own way. Hidden amongst the 91,446 million acres of this hot, harsh, desert, are a world of organisms that thrive to survive. Located in Arizona, this park’s variety of plant and animal life surpass all other North American deserts. It is divided into two districts, named after the mountain ranges that surround the park; named the Tuscan and Rincon. The saguaro cacti are very important to this ecosystem. In fact, the ecosystem is named after this massive cactus that calls this place its home. One very important organism that lives in the Saguaro desert is the horned lizard.
His expertise may attract an array of readers, both newcomers and old-timers. It seems that his intended audience might be those who share his love of the desert and also those who want to know more. The essay is quasi-organized like an educational brochure or an expert interview with an inveterate desert denizen. An unintended audience of course might include the fledgling environmental activists who were emerging in the 1960s to fight for the protection of wilderness. Because of its focus on natural history, the article and the anthology, Desert Solitaire, in which it was published, might...
Minnesota has 4 different ecosystems which are also quite diverse. Regardless of the size of the biomes or the number of biomes in each state, they are all important not just to the locate environment but on a global level because of the life they support. We are going to take a look at the different biomes, comparing climate and rainfall, as well as vegetation fauna. “Texas is 860 miles north to south and 773 miles east to west and contains 267,339 square miles with 624 miles of coastline.” (What are the Ecoregions of Texas, 1978)
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
First, the reasons of opposition starts from visible things such as plants and living organisms. President of the Native Plant Society San Gabriel Chapter, Melanie Baer, states that the wild grassland ecosystem of Agoura Hills located in the Ahmanson Ranch provides an important habitat for almost-extinct native plant species called Purple needle-grass, or Stipa pulchra. She also suggests that the mitigation of this plant will not be successful due to its difficulty and poor peripheral environment, such as golf course, of the mitigation site. Similaly, Dr. Barbara J. Collins, professor of biology at California Lutheran University, argues that the environmental impact report prepared for the development was inadequate and she points out the importance of the oak savannah along a North-facing slope of Lakey Mesa in the Ahmanson Ranch. According to her opinion, these oak trees are about 200 to 300 years old valley oaks and they are very sensitive species. A large portion of these oaks will be removed, and the remaining will most likely not survive the environmental changes they will go through due to its sensitive nature. In addition, these plants create crucial habitat for other living organisms such as birds, mammals, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles. Some of them are even listed in the Federal and State endangered and threatened species lists.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is a collection of autobiographical excerpts depicting Abbey's experiences as a park ranger of Arches National Monument in 1956 and 1957. In the chapter, Water, Abbey discusses how the ecosystem and habitats adapt to the arid and barren weather of the Southwest over time. In addition, he explains that the streams, riverbeds and other means of water end up finding their own ways to support their ecosystem's struggling animal and plant life. Abbey also explores different and unusual means of water such as flash floods and quicksand. Furthermore, Abbey contrasts how the environment adapts naturally to very low water conditions with how human demands to expand outside water sources to attract more civilians and
The National Park Service is a United States federal government agency that manages all of the United States national parks and many national monuments. In addition to the parks and monuments the National Park Service manages other conservation and historical properties throughout the country. The National Park Service is tasked with preserving the historical and ecological integrity of the properties it is in charge of managing, as well as making sure these properties are available for full public use.
The plants growing among Montana’s peaks and valleys range from tall evergreen trees to grasses. The mountainous areas are covered with forests. However, at each level, from the mountaintops to the valleys, there are different, distinct collections of plant life. The mountainsides are largely covered with towering spruce, pine, cedar, and Douglas fir trees (Av2
Taylor, Alan. (1990). Tree Invasion in Meadows of Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. The Professional Geographer, Volume 42, Issue 4.
This trip starts from Denver, Colorado to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. “Natural landform” is the main theme for this trip. I will explore the mystery of geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/us/as-californias-drought-deepens-a-sense-of-dread-grows.html?_r=0 Saier, M. H., Jr. (2010). Desertification and the migration of the frog. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 205(1-4), S31+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA359852755&v=2.1&u=oran95108&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=d58e000340b9e00632d610b6b1c2b1e4. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
During my trip to the Arboretum I thought a lot about the importance of the desert. I thought about how complex and beautiful it is. It is a landscape that I do not think many people view as beautiful. I know that when I first came to visit Phoenix I thought the desert was quite ugly. It wasn’t until I made an effort to find its exquisiteness that I did. Participating in activities like visiting the arboretum and taking day trips to Sedona and Tuscon have helped me to see the magnificence of a cactus existing in the sand with no water for weeks at a time. This one thing amazes me so much. The blooming flowers on a cactus are breathtaking to me. I think the contrast of cactus flowers and the vastness of the sand in the desert is what makes it so striking.