Hopping through the Sonoran Desert Quiz

Answer: Creosote bush

Creosote bush is one of the most common plants in the Sonoran Desert. It is extremely drought-tolerant; in severe droughts, it will drop all of its leaves and go dormant until rain arrives. Its ability to pull all available moisture out of the ground can prevent other plants from prospering near it. It also has a long life span; a bush can live a hundred years, and it will produce offshoots called clones which will create a ring around the area of the original bush. These clones can regenerate for many generations. The oldest known clone is the "King Clone" in southern California -- estimated to be 11,700 years old, it is considered to be one of the oldest living things on earth.

Incidentally, the turpentine bush also has a unique scent, but its leaves must be crushed to release it, while the leaves of the creosote bush naturally emit a scent.

Answer: Northern jaguar

Jaguars are mainly associated with South America, but the northern jaguar once roamed throughout the lower southwest United States. The Sonoran Desert jaguar population is estimated by The Nature Conservancy to be around 100 cats, and although they reside in northern Mexico, they have been captured crossing into Arizona by border cameras.

Answer: Bajada

A bajada is a landform that occurs at the base of a mountain, particularly one with steep, eroded canyons. Rain pushes sediment, rocks, boulders, vegetation and other debris down the mountain, and it ends up in the bajada.

An arroyo is a dry creek bed, a mesa is a flat-topped mountain, and desert pavement is desert flatland with tightly packed stones.

Answer: Coyote

The coyote's range reaches from Central America to parts of Canada and Alaska. Its ability to survive in urban areas has allowed it to avoid the impact of habitat loss that affects other species.

The red fox does live in Arizona but not in the Sonoran Desert - it lives in northeastern Arizona, mainly on the Navajo Nation. The Sonoran Desert does have Mexican gray wolves but not red wolves. The elusive llama wolf reportedly lives in the Andes, but it hasn't been seen by anyone who is sober.

Answer: Flash flood

Flash floods are different from regular flooding in that they occur very suddenly. In the desert, they are the result of heavy rainfall that fills dry riverbeds or washes and flows downhill. Most deaths from flash floods occur when people attempt to drive through flooded areas, and their vehicles are swept away. Arizona has enacted a "Stupid Motorist Law" to discourage people from doing so - if emergency personnel have to rescue a driver, the driver is charged for the cost of the rescue.

Answer: Cholla

Chollas don't actually jump (although we tell visitors that they do) - their cylindrical joints detach at the slightest touch and cling to whatever is passing by. They have particularly sharp, strong spines and can be very painful to remove. They make very effective burglar deterrents when planted under windows!

Answer: Sidewinder

While many snakes are capable of slithering sideways, this is the primary method of motion for sidewinders. They are pit viper rattlesnakes; they are also known as the horned rattlesnake because they have little elevated scales above their eyes. They are small rattlesnakes and although venomous, their bite is usually not fatal since they don't inject as much venom as other rattlers.

They are really cute and a lot of fun to watch, if you are into snakes.

Answer: Copper

Active and abandoned copper strip mines can be found throughout the Sonoran Desert. While desert gold and silver mines are usually formed by tunneling into the earth, copper mines are mainly open pit mines. Copper is such an important resource in the Sonoran Desert that one of Arizona's nicknames is the Copper State, and a copper star is featured on the Arizona state flag.

Answer: Haboob

Haboob is an Arabic word -- the name was first given to the sandstorms of the Saharan desert. But the term is also used in the Sonoran Desert and is a favorite of TV weathermen during the summer months.

Dust devils are like little tornadoes of dust. They are usually weak spirals that tend to dissipate as quickly as they form, but on occasion they can be large and destructive. They move, however, in a circular motion while a haboob is a forward-moving wall of dirt, and haboobs are much bigger -- they usually extend for many miles. Monsoon (in the Sonoran Desert) is the general term given to humid, stormy weather that affects the Sonoran Desert during the summer months (mainly in July and August). Microbursts are small, but intense downdrafts that can cause haboobs, particularly if they are dry microbursts.

Answer: Riparian

Riparian areas in the desert are narrow oases that develop around continuous sources of water, such as streams or rivers. In the Sonoran Desert, two of the more well-known and endangered riparian areas are the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers. Depletion of groundwater is a threat to both of these rivers, and efforts are underway to ensure that the riparian environment continues to thrive there.

To learn more about the Sonoran Desert, I highly recommend a visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. It's a combination of a zoo, botanical garden and museum that features the flora, fauna and features of the beautiful Sonoran Desert. You can visit their website at www.desertmuseum.org.

Other sources:
State of Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources; www.biologicaldiversity.org; www.rainforest-alliance.org; www.nature.org; www.worldwildlife.org; http://cals.arizona.edu/extenstion/riparian/(University of Arizona);National Weather Service; Bureau of Land Management