GEOS/ANTH 462-562 TUMAMOC HILL FIELD TRIP

POLLEN-VEGETATION-CLIMATE

To Bring:
WATER, this document, pen or pencil, appropriate clothing and foot - wear,
optional:
snack, hand-lens, camera, plant identification book, bird book, sunscreen, binoculars


Anklam Road south of Saint Mary's Hospital, 8:00 am, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2007.


Tumamoc Hill

 The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona, is a 370-ha reserve with a 100-yr legacy in ecological research in deserts. The Desert Lab and Tumamoc Hill are a National Environmental Study Site, a National Historic Landmark, and an Arizona Natural Area, as well as being on the National Register of Historic Places (annon., n.d.).

The vegetation is typical upper Sonoran desert scrub, characterized by paloverde (Cercidium microphyllum) and saguaro (Carnegia gigantea). Other tall plants include hackberry (Celtis palida), ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) and whitethorn acacia (Acacia constricta). Common lower shurbs are croesote bush (Larrea tridentata) and triangle-leaf bursage (Ambrosia deltoidea). Also common are mid-sized branching cactuses such as staghorn cholla (Opuntia versicolor), prickly pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and pencil cholla (Opuntia leptocaulis). Various members of the sunflower family (Compositae or Astraceae) are also common as are grasses (Gramineae or Poaceae) and chenopods (Chenopodiaceae). All three families contan many weed species, particularly the Chenopodiaceae, which are common along washes and roadsides (e.g., saltbush Atriplex canescens).

Some plants we might see 
    Acacia constricta		white thorn acacia
Acacia greggii			cat claw acacia
Aloysia wrightii		oraganillo
Ambrosia ambrosioides		canyon ragweed
Ambrosia artemisiifolia		field ragweed
Ambrosia deltoidea		triangle-leaf bursage
Atriplex canescens)		four-wing saltbush
Baccharis salicifolia		seepwillow
Baccharis sarothroides		desert broom
Boerhaavia                      spiderling
Carnegia gigantea		saguaro
Celtis palida			desert hackberry
Cercidium floridum		blue paloverde
Cercidium microphyllum		foothills paloverde
Echinocereus engelmannii	hedgehog cactus
Ephedra trifurca		Mormon tea
Encelia farinosa		brittlebush
Eragrostis lehmanniana		love grass
Erioneuron pulchellum 		fluffgrass
Ericameria larricifolia		tar bush
Eriogonum fasciculatum		California buckwheat 
Euphorbia			spurge
Ferocactus wisliszenii		barrel cactus
Fouquieria splendens		ocotillo
Krameria grayi                  range ratany
Larrea tridentata 		creosotebush
Lycium andersoni		wolfberry
Machaeranthera canescens 	hoary aster
Nicotiana			wild tobacco
Opuntia engelmannii		prickly pear cactus
Opuntia fulgida			chain-fruit cholla
Opuntia leptocaulis		Christmas cholla
Opuntia versicolor		staghorn cholla
Prosopis juliflora		velvet mesquite
Psilostrophe			paperflower
Solidago			goldenrod
Sphaeralcea			globe mallow
Tidestromia                     honey sweet
Zinnia acerosa			wild zinnia
References
Annon. (no date) Ongoing Field Research On Tumamoc Hill http://wwwpaztcn.wr.usgs.gov/tumamoc_research.pdf
King, F.B. 1977. An evaluation of the pollen contents of coprolites as environmental indicators. Journal Arizona Academy Science, 12: 47-52.
Martin, S.C. and Turner, R.M. 1977. Vegetation change in the Sonoran Desert region: Arizona and Sonora. Journal of the Arizona Academy of Science 12:59-69.

GOAL:

  1. learn the altitudinal vegetation distribution of a typical Southwestern mountain range -- Tumamoc Hill -- in comparison to that of larger mountain ranges such as the Santa Catalinas,
  2. identify plants and vegetation types in the field,
  3. understand the relationship between vegetation and pollen rain in mountainous terrain,
  4. understand the vegetation history of the region
  5. obtain fossil pollen samples

SKILLS: at the end of the trip you should be able to

  1. identify and give the common or Latin names for 12 common Southwestern plants
  2. identify 6 common vegetation types (zones)
  3. predict the dominant pollen types associated with the major vegetation zones.
  4. explain the environmental history associated with the late-Plesitocene pollen record
EXERCISES (grade /40pts):
  1. we will discuss the vegetation and pollen rain and you will be quizzed on the identification of woody plants.
  2. individual participation in class discussion of the environmental history of southern Arizona
  3. we will collect a column of pollen samples from a rock fissure












OKD 10/07