Panorama: two different communities

Title Info
Elevation 1300m (4300ft)
Source Dan L. Perlman
Ecosystems Grasslands, savannas
Grasslands and savannas Temperate grassland; Temperate shrubland
Lessons Panoramas
Date January 05, 2010
Location Mt. Lemmon/Catalina Highway,Tucson,Arizona,USA,North America
Panorama of two very different plant communities in an Arizona valley
Related materials: Panoramas;Mt. Lemmon
You may want to have your students brainstorm about why the aspect of the sides of the valley (North- and South-facing slopes) has such a profound effect on the plant communities growing in this valley.

Panorama Viewing: Click the "View Panorama" button to see an interactive panorama. Click and drag your mouse in any direction to view other parts of the scene; press the Shift key to zoom in to see details and press Ctrl to zoom out.
We recommend using the Deval VR viewer for seeing panoramas that do NOT have sound and the QuickTime viewer for panoramas WITH sound.

This image shows two very different plant communities in close proximity. The panorama includes both a South-facing slope covered by an oak-grass community, and a North-facing slope covered by an evergreen oak woodland community. Since it receives very little direct sun, the North-facing slope is cooler and more moist, so it can support shrubs and small trees, while the South-facing slope is hotter and drier, and can only support grasses and a very few shrubs. Photographed at an elevation of ~1300m (4300ft). The ecological information is from Lowe, Charles H. (1967). The Santa Catalina Mountains Ecology Field Trip -- Desert to Mt. Lemmon Fir Forest (9,150 ft.). Technical Reports on the Environmental Biology of Arid Regions No. 1, University of Arizona,