Sonorensis 2013
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InIn gratitudegratitude forfor your your support support of of the the Arizona-Sonora Arizona-Sonora Desert Desert Museum Museum Sonorensis Celebrating Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum the sky islands Volume 33, Number 1 Winter 2013 Clare Aslan, Ph.D. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Introduction Conservation Research Scientist, Co-founded in 1952 by Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Austin Aslan Arthur N. Pack and William H. Carr Above: View of Tucson basin with Catalina Mountains and Rincon Mountains in the background. Below right: Map based on cartographic GIS research by Joel Viers/Lirica. Craig Ivanyi Executive Director Twelve thousand years ago, prehistoric horses and grizzly the summer with billowing monsoon Catalina Mountains, selecting plant species Sky Island Archipelago J Debra Colodner Sky Jacobs Mark Dimmitt Rick Brusca bears wandered oak woodland where the city of Tucson, clouds, is to imagine a muted city. Yet, the that would convey the mountain experience 1 Superstition Mountains 2 Pinal Mountains 60 Director, Conservation Education Arizona, now sits. Sloths roamed in continuous forests importance of the Sky Islands goes deeper to our visitors. In the 1980s and 90s, 3 Santa TTeer resa Mountains Paaysonyyson oon n 4 Galiuro Mountains Show Loww Pinetop-Laketop-Laktop-LakpL kesideided and Science Department 5 Pinaleño Mountains Springerp gerville and woodlands from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to than aesthetic and recreational delights. Museum researchers (particularly Dr. Tom 6 Santa Catalina Mountains C o n t e n t s 7 Winchester Mountains Nancy Serensky the Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonora, Mexico. Mighty These mountain ranges capture moisture Van Devender, now with the Sky Island 8 Dos Cabezas Mountains 177 Theodoreodoredodorere 9 Peloncillo Mountains r Roooseveltseeveltveltvlt Lake ive 10 Rincon Mountains R glaciers covered much of the North American Continent. from the atmosphere and generate rain that Alliance) analyzed detritus from ancient Production Manager lt 11 Little Dragoon Mountains a 60 Phoenixh S 12 Baboquivari Mountains Average global temperatures were several degrees lower is the desert’s lifeblood. The topographical packrat middens for groundbreaking 13 Sierrita Mountains IFC-1 Celebrating the Sky Islands 1 Clare Aslan and Kim Franklin 14 Santa Rita Mountains 191 than they are today. complexity and geographical placement of research on the deep biotic history of Globe Clare Aslan, Ph.D. 15 Whetstone Mountains 2 Managing Editors 16 Dragoon Mountains San Carlosrlosl Reservoirervoirrvoir About 11,000 years ago, things began to change. the Sky Islands begets the Sonoran Desert’s this region. Currently, Museum scientists 17 Chiricahua Mountains 2 Sky Island Geology 18 Little Hatchet Mountains 70 ila River G er Linda Brewer 19 Las Guijas Mountains G il 1180 v Global temperatures began to rise. Plant communities remarkable biodiversity. This diversity, in are generating the first species lists of arthro- a i R R 20 Swisshelm Mountains i Debbie Colodner, Ph.D. 3 v o 21 Big Hatchet Mountains er o c c c Contributing Editor c M 8 ARIZONRIZONIZZONNA s responded, shifting northward or moving up mountain turn, is a key to ecosystem services like pods for target Sky Islands, tracking bat Safffoord i i 22 Pozo VVererde Mountains c m n Silverer City b r e 23 Canelo Hills 5 a e s s 3-4 On the Trail of Bats in the Sky Islands of Southeastern Arizona r s F R R R 77 R i i i i i n i slopes as they tracked their ideal temperature bands. In clean air, clean water, aquifer recharge, and distributions across the Sky Islands of south- 24 Pedregosa Mountains 10 S 191 Sa Martina Clary a 4 v n e r r 25 Animas Mountains P Karen Krebbs e d r 26 Atascosa Mountains r Design and Production what is now southern Arizona and northwest Mexico, a other natural processes critical to the health eastern Arizona, identifying pollinators of 6 o 27 Patagonia Mountains R 9 Lordsbdsburg rg iv 7 5-8 Into the Mexican Sky Islands 28 Huachuca Mountains e vast desert began to assemble as new species moved into and well-being of humans. threatened plant species, and documenting r 10 29 Mule Mountains TTucsonucson WWillcox 8 Sonorensis is published as a benefit to the Sky Jacobs 30 San Luis Mountains 10 Alamo Hueco Mountains 11 NEW MEXICO r the area from the south. With their wide range of habitats, the range shifts of montane plants tied to climate 31 r Willcox Playalayayaya 86 e v Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum membership as a 32 Sierra El Humo i R 9 9-13 ASAP: The Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project 33 Pajarito Mountains Bensonnson 16 In the middle of that emerging desert, high mountain Sky Islands of southeastern Arizona host change. The Museum also prioritizes the z 17 Sells 13 19 u 18 34 Sierra San Antonio r C resource for furthering understanding of the 12 15 Wendy Moore, Ph.D. 35 Sierra San Jose a t 90 ranges punctuated the land in a rumpled north-south swath species that draw from all directions, eleva- conservation of Sky Island habitats and n 9 14 80 36 Sierra La Ceniza a S S 2020 21 Sonoran Desert Region. 2021 N. Kinney Road, Sierra de Embudos 19 80 s 37 191 e Sierraa Vistatat 2525 d 14-17 Mapping Evolutionary Pathways: Sky Islands like an untidy blanket. As temperatures rose, desert vegeta- tions, and latitudes. The Rocky Mountains, serves as refuge for several threatened and 38 Sierra San Luis 82 2244 n 2222 a Tucson, Arizona 85743. ©2013 by the Arizona- 2323 2929 r 39 Sierra San Juan 266 BBisbee 3030 31 G Sasabe 2828 272 s as a Natural Laboratory 40 Sierra AAvispasvispas a tion filled the valleys like a sea flooding lowlands between Great Plains, Chihuahuan Desert, Sonoran endangered montane species. Today, the most NNogalesoogalesgalesales Douglasas s a 3333 a Sonora Desert Museum, Inc. All rights reserved. 41 Sierra El Chivato 3333 3232 Nogalesogales 3434 Agua Prietai 3838 C 42 Sierra Las Minitas 3355 3366 3377 ío Lluvia Flores-Renteria, Ph.D.; Fernanda Baena-Díaz, Ph.D.; mountain peaks, leaving oak woodland and higher, conifer- Desert, and Sierra Madre Occidental con- significant threats to Sky Island ecosystems R No material may be reproduced in whole or in part 43 Sierra Cibuta 4400 4422 2 r 41 44 Sierra El Pinito 3939 ta Jessica Pérez-Alquicira, Ph.D.; Francisco Molina-Freaner, Ph.D.; l 4545 4488 dominated habitats intact but isolated on mountain ranges verge here, leading to an astonishing diver- are accelerating climate change (which may A 433 45 Sierra La Mariquita 4444 without prior written permission by the publisher. o 464 í 499 & César A. Domínguez, Ph.D. 46 Sierra Elenita R CCananean nea 4477 Fronterasras 47 Sierra de Los Ajos TTubutamaubutama separated by up to hundreds of miles. These isolated peaks sity of mammal and reptile species. More well drive high-elevation species off the 51 CHIHUHUAAHUHUH A Visit us at www.desertmuseum.org 48 Sierra Las Espuelas 5050 18-20 The University of Arizona Jaguar Survey Project have come to be known as the “Sky Islands,” or “Madrean than 450 bird species (nearly half of all mountaintops, and contributes to extensive 49 Sierra La Cabellera AAltar 5533 50 Sierra Azul 5252 a 17 Magdalenadalenalenana r 5454 BBaavispevispeispei p 51 Sierra El Manzanal o 5555 NNueue evas Melanie Culver, Ph.D.; Lisa Haynes, Ph.D.; R Santa Ana n Sky Islands,” or “the Madrean Archipelago.” those found in the United States) occur insect outbreaks and high-intensity wildfires) ío o Casasasas Cover: Mt. Lemmon sunrise. Howard Paley 52 Sierra La Madera S Mag 566 Grandesrandeses d o 5577 Nacozariacozaricozario 53 Cerro Bacoachi a í & Kirk Emerson, Ph.D. lena R Today, our Sky Islands are home to many animals and here, along with more than 3,000 species of and development in the valleys (which often 54 Sierra Buenos Aires AArizpe ip e Back cover: Wilderness of Rocks, Catalina 55 Sierra El Pinito 600 21-23 Climate Change and the Sky Islands 56 Sierra San Antonio 5959 plants whose ancestors originated in the Rockies or the plants. The Sky Island Region has also been cuts off vital connections between wildlife 15 5858 57 Sierra Purica 118 58 Sierra El Jacaral Mountains. Steve Franks Jonathan Overpeck, Ph.D. 622 Sierra Madre. Essential breeding habitat for species such as identified as the center of bee and ant diver- populations). By studying and understanding 59 Cerro El Bellotal e p p p p s s s 61 s i i i i 60 Sierra La Sandia Aconchionchi i v 2800m MMoctezumatezumaezumauma v the Arizona tree frog (Hyla wrightorum—our state amphib- sity on this continent. these ecosystems, we are better equipped to 61 Sierra Aconchi a 24-25 Fire: Lessons from the Past a B 400m2 o o m m í í í 62 Sierra de Oposura í u u z R Thanks to all the photographers and organ- 2000m 14 R 63 Sierra Las Guijas e 636 Don Falk, Ph.D. ian) and Mount Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudson- In its quest to foster understanding and conserve them. t c 64 Sierra Los Azules 600m1 o izations who contributed photos for this M 65 Sierra Mazatán 200m1 o icus grahamensis), as well as oases for countless migrating appreciation of the Sonoran Desert Region, In this issue of Sonorensis, we celebrate the í 646 issue of Sonorensis. 26-28 Exploring Biodiversity and Conserv ation Opportunities Ures R in the Sky Island Region birds, they are also welcome retreat and recreation for city the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has Sky Islands as troves of biodiversity, central Presa Plutarcoo Elias Callesalalles Hermosillo Photos on this page, above: Dew on leaf; Western Thomas R.