Flora & Fauna

New Mexico Outdoor

Roughing It In Luxury-Abiquiu, New Mexico 505.901.7321

Flora & Fauna

Fauna First

View Habitats & Wildlife of the Santa Fe National Forest

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Watch Philmont Bear in Action & Adventure | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Although this study was in Montana, we have bears, lions and wolves here in New Mexico and after reviewing the report, it applies!

Recreation With Bears & Mountain Lions

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The Human Footprint in New Mexico

A fabulous report by New Mexico Wilderness Alliance on the Human Footprint in New Mexico with a very "jump out and grab ya" map by Miranda Grey. The .doc opens in Word and the .jpg map opens in a new browser window. It's HiRes.

Above: a 5 foot by 2 1/2 inch Bullsnake

Birding?

Visit one of the most sought after destinations in the world, to winter ..of course, if you're a bird! Bosque del Apache

Flora

New Mexico Vegetation

Tim Lowrey (Curator UNM Herbarium)

New Mexico has one of the most diverse landscapes in the United States. The topographic and geologic diversity interact with the climatic features of temperature, wind, and precipitation to determine the plant diversity in New Mexico. In terms of size, New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the union while it is has the fourth highest plant diversity in terms of numbers of species.

Plant diversity in a particular region is often described in terms of vegetation diversity. Vegetation has two components: structure and floristic composition. Vegetation structure refers to the physiognomy such as forest, grassland, or shrubland. The floristic composition is the actual taxonomic diversity of the different structural types. For example, all continents except Antarctica have forests but the families, genera, and species in them are very different among the different geographic locations.

Description of plant diversity relies on the use of physiognomic and floristic classification systems. There are five floristic zones (see below) and within these zones there may be some or all of the six major structural or physiognomic vegetation types as defined by Dick-Peddie (1993). These major structural types are: Tundra, Forest, Woodland, Grassland, Scrubland, and Riparian.

Vegetation types are based on growth form and abiotic features of climate (primarily precipitation and temperature), geography (elevation and latitude), and geology (soils, slope, and aspect). In New Mexico the greatest influence on vegetation is precipitation (Dick-Peddie, 1993). The next most important influence is temperature and together with precipitation comprise the primary determinants of vegetation patterning. Other components of climate, geography, and geology such as wind, soil type, slope, aspect, elevation, latitude etc. are considered secondary determinants of vegetation patterns.

http://npsnm.unm.edu/native_plant#Section1

Right here on our mesa, we have an abundance of Buffalo Grass, Snakeweed, Prickly Pear Cactus, Cholla Cactus (below), Juniper Trees (Cedar) and Pinon. The Pinon have just recently been overcoming a blight that lasted years ..and they're coming back strong.

Donw in the Rinco del Cuervo there is a lone Ponderosa Pine! Over here only a few hundred yards and down in the Arroyo there's a stand of Cottonwoods, evedently signalling a spring just below the surface of the dry wash.

Cholla-This common cactus looks relatively harmless, but it is wise to enjoy this New Mexico flora from a comfortable distance. The chollo has fine, sharp needles reminiscent of porcupine quills, and victims often claim, like the porcupine, the cactus somehow manages to throw those pointed barbs into nearby flesh. Picture By: Mike Stauffer for the New Mexico Department of Tourism

Also See:

Vista de Pedernal