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Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Forest
The Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine forest is a plant community at an elevation of in the Rocky Mountains. It is an important temperate coniferous forest ecoregion, including some endemism, endemic wildlife and Poaceae, grass species that are only found in this Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine (''Pinus ponderosa'') habitat. Ecology Ponderosa pine occurs as a mid-seral species and Douglas-fir is the climax forest in the Rocky Mountains. Quaking aspen and lodgepole pine are early-seral associates of ponderosa pine on these sites. Ground-level vegetation includes ninebark (''Physocarpus'' spp.), elk sedge (''Carex geyeri''), and pine grass (''Calamagrostis rubescens''). These species, in particular, exemplify aggressive survivors after disturbance (e.g., fire, mechanical site preparation) and are strong competitors for light and nutrients which compete with ponderosa pine seedlings. Climate The pure stands of Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine forest receive about of annual precipitation. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calamagrostis Rubescens
''Calamagrostis rubescens'' is a species of grass known by the common name pinegrass. Distribution It is native to western North America, including Canada from British Columbia to Manitoba and the United States from California to Colorado. It can be found in several types of habitat, including forest and woodlands. Description It is a perennial bunchgrass growing erect to heights between 60 centimeters and one meter. The inflorescence is a dense bunch or open array of spikelets. Each spikelet is about half a centimeter long and has a bent or twisted awn AWN may stand for: * Awn Access to Justice Network in Gaza Strip, Legal Aid Network operate in Gaza Strip, Palestine * Animation World Network, an online organization for animators * Avant Window Navigator, a dock-like bar that tracks open windows ... about the same length. This perennial grass grows mainly from creeping rhizomes. The leaves are mostly basal, narrow, and flat. The collar has conspicuous tufts of hair. The infl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canopy (biology)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms ( epiphytes, lianas, arboreal animals, etc.). The communities that inhabit the canopy layer are thought to be involved in maintaining forest diversity, resilience, and functioning. Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent of the outer layer of leaves of an individual tree or group of trees. Shade trees normally have a dense canopy that blocks light from lower growing plants. Observation Early observations of canopies were made from the ground using binoculars or by examining fallen material. Researchers would sometimes erroneously rely on extrapolation by using more reachable samples taken from the understory. In some cases, they would use unconventional methods such as chairs susp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-breasted Nuthatch
The white-breasted nuthatch (''Sitta carolinensis'') is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is a medium-sized nuthatch, measuring approximately in length. Coloration varies somewhat along the species' range, but the are light blue-gray, with a black and nape in males, while females have a dark gray crown. The are whitish, with a reddish tinge on the lower abdomen. Despite not being closely related, the white-breasted nuthatch and the white wagtail are very similar in plumage. The white-breasted nuthatch is a noisy bird. It has a nasal voice and often utters little cries or vocalizations, often composed of repetitions of small invariant whistles. In summer, it is an exclusively insectivorous bird, consuming a wide range of arthropods, but in winter its diet consists mainly of seeds. The nest is located in the cavity of a tree. The clutch consists of five to nine eggs, incubated for two weeks by the female, who is fed by the male. The two adults then feed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sialia Currucoides
The mountain bluebird (''Sialia currucoides'') is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are tinged with red-orange which is brownish near the flank, contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few' while their song is a warbled high 'chur chur'. The mountain bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. This bird is an omnivore and it can live 6 to 10 years in the wild. It eats spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and small fruits. The mountain bluebird is a relative of the eastern and western bluebirds. Taxonomy The mountain bluebird was formally described in 1798 by the German naturalist, Johann Matthäus Bechstein, and giv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild Turkey
The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally derived from a southern Mexican subspecies of wild turkey (not the related ocellated turkey). Description Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green legs. The body feathers are generally blackish and dark, sometimes grey brown overall with a coppery sheen that becomes more complex in adult males. Adult males, called toms or gobblers, have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red Wattle (anatomy), wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called Caruncle (bird anatomy) , caruncles. Juvenile males are called jakes; the difference between an adult male and a juvenile is that the jake has a very short beard and his tail fan has longer feathers in the middle. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Tanager
The western tanager (''Piranga ludoviciana''), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), other members of its genus and it are classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family. Taxonomy The western tanager was illustrated and formally described by American ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1811 under the binomial name ''Tanagra ludoviciana'' from a specimen collected on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806). The type locality is Kamiah, Idaho. The specific epithet is from the Late Latin ''ludovicianus'' for "Louis". The name is from Louisiana, the 18th-century French administrative district of New France, rather than the modern state. The western tanager is now placed in the genus ''Piranga'' that was introduced by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1808. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognized. Descr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002, due to its wide distribution and large population. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven stable, though declining in some areas. It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby (or "bobbed") tail, from which it derives its name. It reaches a total length (including the tail) of up to . It is an adaptable predator inhabiting wooded areas, semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its original range, but populations are vulnerable to extirpation by coyotes and domestic animals. Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it hunts insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents, and deer. Pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. It is an adaptable, Generalist and specialist species, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. This wide range has brought it many common names, including puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther (for the Florida sub-population). It is the second-largest cat in the New World, after the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although daytime sightings do occur. Despite its size, the cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat (''Felis catus'') than to any species of the subfamily Pantherinae. The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gopher Snake
''Pituophis'' is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes, commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes, which are endemic to North America. Geographic range Species and subspecies within the genus ''Pituophis'' are found throughout Mexico, the Southern and Western United States and Western Canada. Conant R (1975). ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (paperback). (Genus ''Pituophis'', pp. 198–201 + Plate 27 + figure 57 + Map 147). Description All species of ''Pituophis'' are large and powerfully built. The head is relatively small in proportion to the body and it is only slightly distinct from the neck. The rostral is enlarged and elongated, imparting a characteristic somewhat pointed shape to the head. All the species occurring in the United States have four prefrontals instead of the usual two. Modified epiglottis In all snakes of the genus ''Pituophis'', the ep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colorado Chipmunk
The Colorado chipmunk (''Neotamias quadrivittatus'') is a species of chipmunk in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. Description It can be found most often in coniferous forests, woodlands, montane shrub lands, and alpine tundra habitats. This means that in elevation, T. quadrivittatus inhabits anywhere above and below elevation. This western American dweller is the largest of the three species of chipmunks found in the Colorado Front Range (which also include the Least Chipmunk and the Uinta Chipmunk). On average it weighs about . Chipmunks are distinguished from ground squirrels in that their faces have a stripe going across under the eye. There are no dimorphic differences between males and females. Their vocalizations are essential for defending their territories. Diet Their diet consists of seeds, berries, flowers and insects. They like to collect food in the fall and cache it for the win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pygmy Nuthatch
The pygmy nuthatch (''Sitta pygmaea'') is a tiny songbird, about long and about 10 grams in weight. Description Measurements: * Length: * Weight: * Wingspan: It ranges from southern British Columbia south through various discontinuous parts of the western U.S. ( northwest U.S., Sierra Nevada range, southern Rockies, etc.), to central Mexico. It is usually found in pines (especially ponderosa pines), Douglas-firs, and other conifers. Pygmy nuthatches clamber acrobatically in the foliage of these trees, feeding on insects and seeds; less often they creep along limbs or the trunk like bigger nuthatches. Pygmy nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine-cone scales, plant down, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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