HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
Nature Based Multimedia Information Systems
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HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
Nature Based Multimedia Information Systems |
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Whipple Mountains Forming the easternmost portion of California and
relatively isolated by the Colorado River as well as by the desert washes to the
west, this range supports an interesting flora.
A sparse creosote bush scrub on the rocky substrate covers most of the
range. There are, however, some
riparian and desert-wash associations. Here is one of the few places that the giant saguaro, Carnegiea gigantea, is found in the State. While
the blue palo verde, Cercidium floridum, is common here and elsewhere in the
State, this is one of the few known localities where the foothills palo verde, Cercidium
microphyllum, occurs in California. In
these mountains the fishhook cactus, Mammillaria milleri, is at or near
its western distribution limit. There
is a stand of the California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, which, though it
occurs in several locales in Arizona, is here at the northeastern limit of its
distribution. Animals are relatively abundant in the mountains.
Bighorn, Ovis canadensis, are found here, as are desert tortoises, Gopherus
agassizi. In the riparian portions
the Colorado River toad, Bufo alvarius, and the tree lizard, Urosaurus
ornatus,
are at the northern and western limits, respectively, of their ranges.
There are important bat populations in the region. There are a number of indurated packrat, Neotoma sp.,
middens in the range. These middens
contain plant microfossils, pollen, bones, insect remains, etc., and are being
analyzed to develop data on the climate, flora, etc., of the area. They
date from a few hundred years to more than 40,000 B.P. and, with few exceptions,
record the existence of woodland or forest plant communities in the modern, hot
desert – woodlands that persisted until some 8,000 years ago. Integrity: Though
there is some development along the Colorado River and a few trails and an
aqueduct run through the area, most of the range is virtually undisturbed;
however, there are some effects of overgrazing by wild burros. December 1976
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