This field trip document summarizes a class trip to the Botanical Garden located in the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix, Arizona. It describes the different habitats found in the Sonoran Desert including the desert habitat, mesquite bosque, desert oasis, semi desert grassland, and chaparral. It provides examples of common cacti and other plants found in each habitat, such as the strawberry hedgehog, creosote bush, organ pipe cactus, and barrel cactus. The document educates students about the plants and habitats they will see during their tour of the botanical garden.

1. Botanical Garden Field Trip Ms. Laura’s Class Located in the Sonoran Desert, in Phoenix, Arizona

2. What is a desert? A place where there is a shortage of usable water The Sonoran Desert is Located here

3. 2 Categories of deserts:horse latitude and rain shadow deserts Horse latitude or high pressure zone At 30 degrees latitude in both the northern and southern hemispheres, the west coasts of all continents have deserts. These are caused by high pressure zones which result from warm, dry descending air. This downward motion of dry air prevents rain. 30o 30o

5. We are now at the entrance of the garden…

6. Habitats The Sonoran Desert has many different landforms, soil types and moisture. As a result, several habitats (communities of plants and animals) have developed in this area.

7. Desert Habitat The desert, with its many mountains and valleys, is the largest habitat. These plants can survive on less than ten inches of rain per year.

8. Mesquite Bosque Along waterways, where ground water is high, small mesquite forests grow. The mesquite tree is an important plant to the desert and the life in it. It is sometimes referred to as the tree of life because it has so many different uses.

9. Desert Oasis There are valleys in the desert where one can find streams, pools and ponds. Many trees like cottonwood, willow trees, and cattails would otherwise die without these areas.

10. Semi Desert Grassland On the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert lie semi-desert grasslands. The elevation is higher and the rainfall is about ten to eighteen inches per year. Many grasses, acacia and yucca plants grow here.

11. Chaparral The chaparral habitat are mostly in the northern areas of the Sonoran desert at much higher elevations of 2400 to 4100 feet. There is 13-25 inches of rain every year. The juniper and desert spoon make their home here.

12. Match the Habitat Desert Mesquite Bosque Chaparral Desert Oasis Semi Desert Grassland Check the next slide to see if you’re correct!

13. Match the Habitat Desert Mesquite Bosque Chaparral Desert Oasis Semi Desert Grassland

14. What is a cacti? Any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native to the arid regions of the world and usually having spines. Succulent plant: water retaining plants that store water in their leaves, stems, and roots.

15. Parts of a Cacti

16. Tonto Basin Agave Agave delamateri This plant looks like a cacti but is actually more related to the Lily. It was first used by the Sinagua Indians. It cannot reproduce by flowers and seeds, instead it uses clones to reproduce.

21. Produces ripe fruit that desert animals love.

22. Can live up to 130 years.

23. Extremely hardy. Can live in temperatures as cold as ten degrees. (ag.arizona.edu, 2011)

25. Covered in long, white hair-like spines. They can be small clusters or tall plants that can grow to over ten feet tall.

27. References Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum (2011) Education and online learning. Retrieved April 10, 2011 from http://www.desertmuseum.org College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (2011) The University of Arizona. Retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://www.ag.arizona.edu Desert Botanical Garden (2010) Retrieved April 10, 2011 from http://www.dbg.org Photo credits: All photos taken by Laura Altmaier unless otherwise specified. Flower photo slide 19 from desert-tropicals.com Map from slide 3: http://www.coursesa.matrix.msu.edu Diagrams on slide 4 and 5 from www.desertmuseum.org