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Vegetation of the Gila River Resource Area, Eastern Arizona

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Vegetation of the Gila River Resource Area, Eastern Arizona 124 Desert Plants 3131 Autumn 1981 Introduction Vegetation of the Gila Lands along the Gila River and its tributaries imme- diately northeast of Safford, Arizona (Fig. 1), are gener- River Resource Area, ally considered a broad transition between Chihuahuan Desert to the east and Sonoran Desert to the west. How- ever, streams flow from highlands that are intimately asso- Eastern Arizona ciated with the-Rocky Mountain and Plains provinces to the north and northeast, respectively, and to the south are W. L. Minckley and "sky islands," disjunct mountain ranges that merge with the northwestern Mexican Plateau (Brown and Lowe Thomas 0. Clark 1978). Along these routes, unique biological communities Department of Zoology and and individual species have gained access to the region. Center For Environmental Studies Many kinds of plants and animals occupy the area, but Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona some species seem to have been blocked by past or present conditions from moving into or dispersing through it. The region is one of the better studied parts of Arizona from the standpoints of geology and water resources, because of important mining and agricultural interests, but biological information is scattered and sparse. This report provides descriptive information on vegeta- tion of the area based upon field work conducted from October 1976 through September 1979. Intent of the study was to obtain baseline information prior to potential de- velopments, and it was accomplished under Contract No. YA-512-CT6-216 from the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to Arizona State University. Description of the Area The Gila River Resource Area lies mostly below 1,500 m elevation (with the notable exceptions of the tops of Tur- tle Mountain and Guthrie Peak; Fig. 1). Topography is characterized by relatively short, parallel mountain ranges, surrounded by broad, gently sloping alluvial val- leys, and is part of the Basin and Range Physiographic Province of Fenneman (1931). Major strUctural features in- clude the Pinalerio (Graham), Gila, and Peloncillo moun- Figure L Gila River Resource Area, eastern Arizona (within dashed lines), showing some place names men- tioned in text, general topography, and drainages. Con- tours are 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 m, left to right, and width of the sketch map is about 32 km. Minckley and Clark Gila River Resource Area 125 tarns, rising above alluvial basins—the Safford and Dun- The study area is generally included in the Southeastern can valleys—which were filled during the same orogenic Section of Arizona of Green and Sellers (1964) with regard periods that produced the adjacent mountain ranges to climate. Precipitation is strongly bi-seasonal, charac- (Clarkson 1979). Perennial streams and many ephemeral terized by winter rainfall (snow rarely occurs), spring watercourses are deeply incised in conglomerates and drought, and summer-autumn monsoons (Lowe 1967). An other strata, and flow through alternating canyons and example of this variation for the period 1893-1965 at Clif- open valleys. Soils of upland areas are locally derived from ton, Arizona, is as follows (Burkham 1970): winter 12.3 -± heterogenous strata (Martin and Fletcher 1943), and gener- 7.4 cm (± one standard deviation); spring 1.9 ± 1.8; and ally are Gray Desert types developed from granites, gneis- summer-autumn 18.2 ± 5.8 cm (mean annual precipita- ses, schists, and limestones (U.S. Soil Conservation Ser- tion 32.3 ± 9.9 cm). Temperatures along the Gila River are vice 1975). Alluvial soils are of more distant origins, and mild to warm throughout the year. Below freezing tem- may be thick, of heavier texture, and sometimes contain peratures are rare at Safford, even in the coldest winters. zones of salt deposition (Lapham and Neill 1904). Essen- At Duncan, Arizona, freezing temperatures are not un- tially all soils are thermic in nature (mean annual temper- common in the period December through February. Day- ature at a depth of ca. 50 cm of 15-22° C), and are classed as time temperatures in colder months typically reach 20-25° semi-arid (average annual precipitation 25.4-38.1 cm) (U.S. C, and ranges of 15-20° C in a single day are not uncom- Bureau of Land Management 1978). mon. Summer temperatures often reach 32-38° C in mid- afternoon. Low humidities are the rule, and evaporation rates from water surfaces fall between 7 and 10 times the Table 1. Legal descriptions of selected transect origins and directions of 1964). transect lines in degrees from true north, Gila River Resource Area, average annual precipitation (Green and Sellers eastern Arizona. Transect lengths were 1,050 m unless otherwise noted. Methods and Materials Permanent transects (Table 1) were arbitrarily estab- Tran- Legal Descriptions and lished early in the study for sampling of vegetation and for sects Transect Directions Habitats census of mammalian and avian populations (to be pre- GL-1 NW1/4,NE1/4,T6S,R28E,S29. 260° Bosque, recent alluvium sented elsewhere). Vegetational data developed for GL-2 NE1/4,NE1/4,T6S,R28E,S28. 100° Bosque, recent alluvium selected transects include frequency of occurrence (Zim- (840 m) GL-3 NW1/4,NE1/4,T6S,R28E,S29. 000° Dry side canyon merman 1969) and tree counts (Anderson et al. 1977a). GL-4 SE1/4,SEV.,T6S,R28E,S20. 000° Wet side canyon Vegetation description on the basis of spot sampling GL-5 NE1/4,SEV4,T6S,R28E,S21. 180° Terrace, valley fill (Zimmerman 1969) was accomplished by noting species' (735 m) 2 GL-6 NE1/4,NE1/4,T6S,R28E,S21. 165° Terrace, valley fill presence in a circular, 250-m plot at ca. one-km intervals GL-7 NE1/4,SWV4,T6S,R28E,S21. 350° Upland, dissected throughout different parts of the study area and its envi- valley fill rons. This provided information on frequency of occur- B -1 NE1/4,SWV.,T6S,R28E,S16. 340° Broad-leafed riparian, alluvium rence of major woody species, plus Cactaceae and B -2 SE1/4,NWV.,T5S,R27E,S36. 330° Broad-leafed riparian, Agavaceae, and their distributions along various environ- alluvium mental gradients. Smaller forms, such as hedgehog and B -3 NWV.,SWV4,T5S,R27E,S10. 340° Broad-leafed riparian, alluvium fishook cacti (Echinocereus spp. and Mammillaria spp.), B -4 SW1/4,SW1/4,T6S,R28E,S16. 330° Upland, dissected plus young ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), may be missed valley fill by this technique, especially when they grew within beds B -5 SWV4,SWV4,T5S,R27E,S36. 110° Upland, dissected valley fill of Devil's cholla (Opuntia stanlyi), so estimates for those B -6 SWV4,NE1/4,T5S,R27E,S10. 270° Upland, valley taxa are minimal. fill/volcanics E -1 SW1/4,SE1/4,T5S,R29E,S30. 340° Broad-leafed riparian, Direct tree counts, including for present purposes alluvium species of cacti and agaves, were made in belts 15 m wide E -2 SE1/4,SWY4,T5S,R29E,S18. 010° Broad-leafed riparian, on each side of transect lines. Numbers of individuals of alluvium E -3 NWN,NE1/4,T4S,R28E,S35. 270° Wet side canyon each species and size classes of individuals were recorded E -4 SW1/4,SEV4,T5S,R29E,S30. 280° Upland, dissected for each 30 m advance along the transect. Data could valley fill therefore be interpreted as numbers of plants per 150 m2 E -5 SE1/4,NWV.,T5S,R29E,S18. 270° Upland, valley fill/volcanics plot, or as numbers along the line of transect. E -6 NWV4,NWV4,T4S,R28E,S26. 270° Upland, dissected Devil's cholla and certain growth forms of mesquite valley fill (Prosopis juliflora)1 presented special sampling problems. SF-1 SW1/4,NW1/4,T5S,R29E,S14. 010° Broad-leafed riparian, alluvium (525 m) The former plant reproduces vegetatively, resulting in 2 SF-2 NW1/4,NWV4,T5S,R29E,S24. 010° Upland, dissected large clonal stands that exceeded 100 m . At other times, valley fill when reproduction results from fragmentation of larger GU-1 NE1/4,NW1/4,T5S,R29E,S27. 270° Bosque, recent alluvium 2 GU-2' NEV4,SEV.,T5S,R30E,S35. 110° Bosque, recent alluvium plants, a scattering of small (0.5-5.0 m ) clumps was pre- (735 m) sent. The average size of clumps of this cactus was ca. 7.5 GU-4 NE1/4,SEN,T5S,R29E,S25. 000° Dry side canyon m2, and that value was divided into the estimated ground GU-5 SE1/4,NE1/4,T5S,R29E,S27. 270° Terrace, valley fill GU-6 SE 1/4 ,SE1/4 ,T5S,R30E,S31.120° Terrace, valley fill (840 m) 'The area studied is in a region of range overlap between Pro- GU-7 NE1/4,SW1/4,T5S,R29E,S27. 220° Upland, dissected valley fill sopis juliflora var. velutina and P. julifora var. torreyana (Kear- GU-8 NW1/4,SW1/4,T5S,R30E,S30. 000° Upland, dissected ney and Peebles et al. 1973), and they both were probably pres- valley fill (840 m) ent on plots. Lehr (1978) lists these not as varieties of P. juli- No transect GU-3 was established flora, but as P. velutina and P. glandulosa var. torreyana. 126 Desert Plants 3(3) Autumn 1981 Figure 2. Semi-desert Grassland near the summit of Solomon Pass, Graham County, Arizona, ca. 1,380 m elevation; summer 1977. Principal grasses are gramma, brome, and cotton-top among a scattering of prickly pear, low mesquite, and yucca. covered by this species within each 150 m2 plot to be re- Results and Discussion. Variations in the Vegetation. corded as "number of plants." Mesquite also grew in low, Vegetational variation in uplands of the Gila River Re- multi-stemmed clumps in areas of impervious soils or source Area may be attributed to altitude, topography (in- otherwise inaccessible ground water (Lacey et al.
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