The Arizona Mountains forests are a

temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion, terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

of the southwest

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with a rich variety of woodland habitats and wildlife.

Setting

This is a landscape of steep mountains and high stony plateaus with rocky outcrops from the Kaibab Plateau in northern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

south to the Mogollon Plateau, extending eastwards into southwestern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and into the Trans-Pecos region of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

. Elevations range from , with some peaks higher than that. Specific areas include the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.

Flora

Trees of higher elevations of the area include

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

, Blue spruce,

Engelmann spruce ''Picea engelmannii'', with the common names Engelmann spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, and silver spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America. It is highly prized for producing distinctive tone wood for acoustic guitars ...

White fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...

, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, and

Quaking aspen ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen,

. The lower elevations have a mixed woodland with species such as Alligator juniper, Single-leaf pinyon, Colorado pinyon, Gambel oak, Emory oak, and Arizona white oak. Finally the rivers and their banks are important habitats for specific wildlife and fish.

Fauna

Wildlife found here include the miniature northern saw-whet owl and many birds and reptiles that are common in Mexico further south, such as the secretive Montezuma quail. The caves of the

Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains () are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both of which are located wi ...

are a specific habitat for beetles,

centipede Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...

s and other

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

Threats and preservation

This is a fairly stable ecoregion with about 25% of original habitat still intact although vulnerable to logging and

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

. Pollution and reduction of rivers are threatening specific plants and animals including Fremont cottonwood ('' Populus fremontii'') and Goodding's willow ('' Salix gooddingii''), the threatened Gila trout ('' Oncorhynchus gilae''), and the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (''Empidonax traillii extimus''). Logging continues to remove habitat of the Mexican spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis lucida'') and the northern goshawk (''Accipiter gentalis''). Large blocks of remaining habitat include: the Aldo Leopold Wilderness/Gila Wilderness/ Blue Range Wilderness and the El Malpais National Monument and

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

in southwestern New Mexico; the Kaibab National Forest, Blue Range Primitive Area,

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...

, the Mazatzal Mountains including

Four Peaks Four Peaks () is a prominent landmark on the eastern skyline of Phoenix. Part of the Mazatzal Mountains, it is located in the Four Peaks Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest, east-northeast of Phoenix. In winter, Four Peaks offers much o ...

Superstition Mountains The Superstition Mountains () is a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain, a large mountain that is a popular recreation destination for residents of the ...

, Sycamore Canyon, Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness, Hellsgate Wilderness, Pinal Mountains in the

Tonto National Forest The Tonto National Forest, encompassing , is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the ninth largest national forest in the United States. The forest has diverse scenery, with elevations ranging from 1,400 feet (427 m) in ...

and the Galiuro Mountains in Arizona; the

Chuska Mountains '' The Chuska Mountains () are an elongate range on the southwest Colorado Plateau and within the Navajo Nation whose highest elevations approach 10,000 feet. The range is about 80 by 15 km (50 by 10 miles). It trends north-northwest and is c ...

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

lands; and the Guadalupe Mountains including the Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. Much of this is linked and well-protected within national parkland.

References

{{Wikimedia Commons, Arizona Mountains Forests Ecoregion, Arizona Mountains forests Temperate coniferous forests of the United States Ecoregions of the United States Forests of Arizona Forests of New Mexico *Arizona Mountains *Arizona Mountains Nearctic ecoregions

Setting

Flora

Fauna

Threats and preservation

See also

References