Biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert

If you're interested in learning more about biodiversity across other study areas, please check out these my peers' blogs from our Virginia Tech Su24 Biodiversity Stewardship course. Zach - Brook Road, Richmond, VA Whitten - Pony Pasture, Richmond VA Shelby - Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, WA Rey - Shenandoah Nat'l Park, VA Orisia - St. Kitts & Nevis Coral Reefs Makayla - Herman Park Madison - Caw Caw Interpretive Ctr., SC Kim - Greenspring Montessori, MD Kendall - Lake Norman, FL Kelsea - Bermuda Kate - New Bristow, VA Jossie - Southeastern U.S. Jim - COURSE BLOG Garrett - Weyanoke Sanctuary, VA Dakota - Niger Delta Connor - Kennesaw Mt, N.B.P., GA Chris - Pocosin Swamps, NC Bella - Elkhorn Slough, CA Anna - Pūpūkea Marine Life C.D., HI Abigail - Grandfather Mountain, NC

This is intended to provide an overview of the key steps needed to form a nonprofit organization in Arizona. There are additional activities not covered here that will be needed to develop and grow the organization specific to its intended mission and vision including marketing, fundraising, and education and awareness. Step 1: Create a Mission A nonprofit mission statement should be one or two sentences that describe why the organization exists, what it will do, and who it will serve. It will be used for internal purposes to motivate team members and for external stakeholders as a window into the organization so it is important to craft one that evokes interest. Step 2: Create a Vision Statement A vision statement should describe the ideal future if the organization achieved all its goals. It should feel like a reach. Step 3: Form a Board Arizona requires at least one director to form a nonprofit. However, it is recommended to have more than one to encompass a diverse range of skillse...

Sky Island Alliance is 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based out of Tucson, AZ focused on protecting and restoring the diversity of life in the Sky Island region. I chose to highlight this organization because of their commitment to the Sky Islands, and it's binational landscapes, wildlife, and people. Sky Island Alliance not only seeks to conserve and protect natural resources; they approach it in a way that is inclusive of the people and culture that are connected to the region.  I've had an opportunity to volunteer with Sky Island Alliance on several occasions, including Spring Seeker, and each time I am impressed with how well their events and initiatives are organized and designed to make a difference. If you'd like to learn more about my personal experience, you can view it here . 

The Sonoran Desert is home to more than 350 bird species. One of these many unique species is the Gila woodpecker ( Melanerpes uropygialis ). It is a non-migratory, endemic bird to the Sonoran Desert regions of the U.S. and Mexico. The male and female gila woodpeckers both have brown faces, black and white zebra striped backs, and white wing patches. Adult males have a red cap of feathers on top of their head. While they do forage and nest in trees, they most commonly use the iconic saguaro cacti as nurseries - a true Sonoran Desert animal! I admire the tough and harsh environments where the Gila woodpecker lives, and wanted to use that as an opportunity to further explore their genus, Melanerpes. Adult female and adult male Gila woodpecker.  Image Source: Audubon.org / David Masche Taxon Classification Description Domain Eukaryota Organisms whose cells have a membrane-bound nucleus. This includes all animals, plants, fungi, and many unicell...

This deck offers a glimpse into dendrology in the Sonoran Desert by focusing on some of the most notable woody plant species.

PlantNet  is a web and app-based citizen science platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and inventory tens of thousands of plant species. Users can share observations which can then be reviewed by the PlantNet community and used by the underlying AI model to recognize plants. A sufficient degree of confidence is required in order for the observation to be added to the public database and the AI model. To take into account new observations and revisions, the AI model is regularly re-trained. This diagram demonstrates the data flow of observations in the PlantNet system. Source: PlantNet.org PlantNet has collected over 1 billion plant images and is one of the biggest contributors to the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) international database. Data from GBIF can be downloaded and explored, or you can view the hundreds of publications that make use of PlantNet data. PlantNet's highly sophisticated process for identifying and validating observations ...

The Sonoran Desert is under threat from several invasive plant species, and they are plants that know no boundaries. They affect the native plants and animals, create fire hazards, and endanger ecosystems. These slides provide an overview of the most problematic invasive plants that are jeopardizing one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world.

Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey and is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). There are soil maps and data available for more than 95% of the nation's counties. The information obtained from the WSS provides land managers, agriculturalists, agencies, and other providers electronic access to soil and related information needed to make land-use and management decisions (USDA, n.d.). This was my first time using Web Soil Survey and I began by watching Using the Web Soil Survey  to gain a general understanding of how to navigate within the tool. There is a number of other online tutorials available including a how-to guide from the USDA. There are several ways to create an Area of Interest (AOI) such as defining an area on a map, selecting from menu options like county, or importing your own data.  I chose the Catalina Foothills area in Tucson as my AOI. I specifically wanted t...

As one of the most biodiverse deserts on Earth, the Sonoran Desert also has one of the most unique climates. Much of the ecology is shaped by its two distinct rainy seasons: the monsoon season which occurs from July to September and another more gentle rainy period in the winter. These two rainy seasons provide enough moisture to support a substantial variety of plants and several small trees to thrive in the desert as well as wildlife. A monsoon storm over Tuzigoot National Monument / Source: National Park Service                                                      To further explore the climate and weather in the Sonoran Desert, I recommend the following resources: Climate (National Park Service)  provides a general overview of the climate in the Sonoran Desert as well as links to specific monitoring sites based on past y...

In this exercise, I explored the Sonoran Desert using Google My Maps . Google My Maps is a free, web-based mapping tool that allows you to create custom maps using pins, layers, and directions. To start my map, I created a layer to represent the boundary of the desert using the drawing tool. Then, I added an additional layer to represent the subdivisions of the desert, and color coded them to visually distinguish them.  The National Parks and Monuments, Wildlife Refuges, and Reserves were easy to locate and add using the search bar. Lastly, I wanted to test creating a layer using the import functionality. The jaguar is an apex predator that occupies portions of the Sonoran Desert, and I was interested in seeing where throughout history jaguars have been observed in the area. The  Jaguar Observations Database provides public data related to the observations of jaguars dating back to 1829. Note: There is not latitude-longitude data available for all observation types. I downloa...

This is slide deck provides an overview on the basics of ecology. Be sure to view the speaker notes for more details on each concept.

I’ve selected the study area for my Biodiversity Stewardship as the Sonoran Desert, a region that spans from a small portion of southeastern California, the southern third of Arizona, into the state of Sonora, Mexico, and down the Baja California peninsula. The Sonoran Desert is considered one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world, and the most diverse of the four U.S. deserts. “More than 100 reptiles, 2,000 native plants, 60 mammals, and 350 birds call this desert home” (Center for Biological Diversity, n.d.). It houses species that can be found only in the Sonoran Desert like the Saguaro cactus, the Long-tongued bat, the Cactus mouse, and the Antelope jackrabbit, as well as the only population of jaguars in the U.S. In addition to the vast biodiversity, there is a rich history of human ecology in the desert, and the indigenous communities.  I live in Tucson, Arizona, a city situated firmly in the Sonoran Desert, and I’ve cultivated a deep appreciation for the land...

Biological diversity, or biodiversity for short, is the variety and sum of all living things on Earth, their relationships and interactions, and their evolution which are necessary to cultivate stable ecosystems for survival. Biodiversity is generally explored across three levels: Ecological - Diversity across different ecosystems. Species - Diversity in species numbers and type within an ecosystem Genetic - Diversity in characteristics within a single species due to genetic variation.   Source: Google DeepMind                                                                The importance of biodiversity Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on Earth, including humans. Without biodiversity, we wouldn’t have food security, clean water, and habitable environments. Biodiversity is also critical for ma...