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Biology - Grand Canyon Ecosystems
1
The Sonoran Desert
The desert is one of five ecosystems in the Grand Canyon as well as the primary biome that the canyon is in. The two deserts that are part of the Grand Canyon are the Mojave Desert and the Sonoran Desert.
Climate & Terrain
For most of the year, the Sonoran Desert is very hot and dry. However, there are 2 short periods during the year (1 during Winter and 1 during Summer) that give the area lots of precipitation. Nighttime is also an exception because there is a very quick loss of heat in the desert at that time. During Summer, the desert draws wet air from the Gulf of Mexico so it's more moist. In the Grand Canyon, the air gets wetter the farther up the canyon you go and there can occasionally be floods at the bottom if there are thunderstorms at the top.
The terrain in the Sonoran Desert can be described as rocky because of its humungous cliffs and deep valleys.
Climate and Terrain
This is some of the terrain in the Sonoran Desert. You can see some of the cacti and the shrubs with green bark in this image.
Food Web
Energy and Food Web
Energy Sources
Other Energy Sources
During the day, there is very clear access to the sun in the desert for energy.
During the short periods in the year when there is rainfall in the Sonoran Desert, the area gets lots of water. Other than that, there are lots of streams around the desert and the Roaring Springs nearby in the Grand Canyon.
Many of the organisms in the Sonoran Desert get food from cacti. Lots of the cacti can live up to 150 years long and drops food upon blooming for nearby wildlife to take.
Environmental Resistance
Environmental Resistance
The Sonoran Desert is projected to get hotter and drier because of climate change, which means less and less precipitation. This will give plants less opportunity to grow because there will be less usable soil.
Some plants that are cold-intolerant, like succulent plants, will thrive with an increase in temperature.
Shallow-rooted plants grow better during Summer and deep-rooted plants grow better during Winter, which means that shallow-rooted plants will also grow more easily than deep-rooted plants with the increase of temperature.
These are succulent plants, which are shallow-rooted. They cannot tolerate the cold.
Population
Density Factors
A population density factor is anything that affects the size of a population. Density dependent factors are based on the number of organisms in a population/interaction within the population (like competition) and density independent factors are based on the environment (like natural disasters) and don't depend on how many organisms are in a population.
Density Factors
Density Dependent
Density Dependent
Density-dependent limiting factors in the desert are most often competition, predation, lack of food, or disease. Most of the populations in the desert grow logistically and they will face one of these limiting factors if they reach their carrying capacity.
Density Independent Factors
There is lots of uranium mining around the Sonoran Desert, which releases toxic chemicals like radium into the atmosphere. Its cleanup process will cause the water and land around the desert (and in the Grand Canyon) to become polluted. All the land underneath the uranium that gets mined also becomes radioactive.
Cattle, human waste, and harsh weather that never gets cleaned from the water contribute to lots of the pollution and fecal coliform (a type of bacteria) in its water streams.
Density Independent
Roaring Springs - waterfall in the Grand Canyon that is nearby to the Sonoran Desert
Fun Facts
1) The Saguaro Cactus is one of the most common cacti in the Sonoran Desert and it extends up to 40 feet tall
2) The Sonoran Desert actually covers 4 states, 2 from the U.S and 2 from Mexico: California and Arizone from the U.S, Baja California and Sonora from Mexico
Fun Facts
The Saguaro Cactus
Wildlife
Because of the intensive heat in the Sonoran Desert, both the plants and the animals get around dehydration and heat exhaustion in different ways.
Smaller mammals live in caves in the desert and hunt for food at night to avoid the sun.
Most of the plants in the desert are coated with green bark that \oes the photosynthesis instead of the leaves on the plant, which would get overheated by the sun.
Some of the desert's animals include..
Mexican Wolf (2)
Specific Animals
Mammals: javelina, coyote, Mexican Wolf, bighorn sheep, bobcat, bat
Small animals: fox, skunk, cottontail, jackrabbit
Bibliography
Bibliography
Text Citations
Text
1) “Limiting Factors in the Desert Ecosystem You Really Need to Know.” Science Struck, 12 Dec. 2014, sciencestruck.com/limiting-factors-in-desert-ecosystem. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
2) “Interesting Facts about the Sonoran Desert - Marcella Lambert | Sonoran Sky Real Estate | Realty ONE Group.” Marcella Lambert | Sonoran Sky Real Estate | Realty ONE Group, 2017, www.sonoranskyproperties.com/sonoran-desert-facts/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
3) “Sonoran Desert Food Web.” Exploringnature.org, 2021, www.exploringnature.org/db/view/Sonoran-Desert-Food-Web. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
4) “Grand Canyon at Risk.” Environmentamerica.org, 2018, environmentamerica.org/reports/ame/grand-canyon-risk. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
5) “Weather and Climate - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service).” Nps.gov, 2016, www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/weather.htm. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
Image Citations
Images
1) grandcanyon. “Desert View & Watchtower | Visitor Center.” Grand Canyon Visitor Center, 8 May 2011, explorethecanyon.com/desert-view-and-watchtower/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
2) The Associated Press. “Report: Mexican Wolf Found Dead in Arizona and in New Mexico.” AZFamily, 15 Sept. 2018, www.azfamily.com/archives/report-mexican-wolf-found-dead-in-arizona-and-in-new-mexico/article_e9f25fb0-5e96-5b40-a44d-87e1f3e0e428.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
3) Yonker, Jessica. “How to Care for Succulents | Growing Succulent Plants.” HGTV, HGTV, 17 May 2021, www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/how-to-care-for-succulents. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
4) Caplan, Emma. “The Sonoran Desert.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 16 Nov. 2020, www.worldatlas.com/articles/where-does-the-sonoran-desert-lie.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
5) Staff. “Grand Canyon’s Roaring Springs, Art in Water.” Grand Canyon National Park Trips, Grand Canyon National Park Trips, 26 Feb. 2010, www.mygrandcanyonpark.com/things-to-do/hiking-trails/waters-in-the-grand-canyon/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.
6) “Saguaro Cactus - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (U.S. National Park Service).” Nps.gov, 2016, www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/saguaro-cactus.htm. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.