Madrean Sky Islands

Madrean Sky Islands montane forests
Apache Peak in the Whetstone Mountains, as seen from the Kartchner Caverns State Park
Madrean Sky Islands montane forests ecoregion
Ecology
Biome	Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Geography
Countries	Mexico United States
States	Arizona Chihuahua New Mexico
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/Endangered

The Madrean Sky Islands are enclaves of Madrean pine–oak woodlands, found at higher elevations in a complex of small mountain ranges in southern and southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico. The sky islands are surrounded at lower elevations by the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. The northern west–east perimeter of the sky island region merges into the higher elevation eastern Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains of eastern Arizona (southern Anasazi region).

The sky islands are the northernmost of the Madrean pine–oak woodlands, and are classified as part of the Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests ecoregion, of the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests biome. The sky islands were isolated from one another and from the pine–oak woodlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the south by the warming and drying of the climate since the ice ages.

There are approximately 27 Madrean sky islands in the United States, and 15 in northern Mexico. The major Madrean sky island ranges in Arizona are the Baboquivari Mountains, Chiricahua Mountains, Huachuca Mountains, Pinaleño Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains and Whetstone Mountains. Similar sky island ranges include the Animas Mountains in New Mexico and the Guadalupe Mountains, Davis Mountains and Chisos Mountains in west Texas.

Significant urban areas located very close to the Madrean Sky Islands include Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona.

Fauna

[edit]

Though formerly extirpated from the United States, the North American jaguar has returned to the area from northern Mexico in small numbers. One such jaguar is named El Jefe.^[1]

References

[edit]

^ Richard Grant (October 2016). "The Return of the Great American Jaguar". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2016-10-02.

External links

[edit]

Sky Island Alliance homepage
U.S. Geologic Survey: Biology of the Southwestern Sky Island Ecosystems
Bioimages.vanderbilt.edu: Madrean Sky Islands Montane Forests images; (slow modem version)
"Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak woodlands". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

v t e Level III Ecoregions in the United States
Marine West Coast Forest	1 Coast Range 2 Puget Lowland 3 Willamette Valley 111 Ahklun and Kilbuck Mountains 113 Alaska Peninsula Mountains 115 Cook Inlet 119 Pacific Coastal Mountains 120 Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Forests
Northwestern Forested Mountains	4 Cascades 5 Sierra Nevada 9 Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills 11 Blue Mountains 15 Northern Rockies 16 Idaho Batholith 17 Middle Rockies 19 Wasatch and Uinta Mountains 21 Southern Rockies 41 Canadian Rockies 77 North Cascades 78 Klamath Mountains 105 Interior Highlands 116 Alaska Range 117 Copper Plateau 118 Wrangell Mountains
Mediterranean California	6 Southern and Central California Chaparral and Oak Woodlands 7 Central California Valley 8 Southern California Mountains
North American Deserts	10 Columbia Plateau 12 Snake River Plain 13 Central Basin and Range 14 Mojave Basin and Range 18 Wyoming Basin 20 Colorado Plateaus 22 Arizona/New Mexico Plateau 24 Chihuahuan Deserts 80 Northern Basin and Range 81 Sonoran Basin and Range
Temperate Sierras	23 Arizona/New Mexico Mountains
Great Plains	25 Western High Plains 26 Southwestern Tablelands 27 Central Great Plains 28 Flint Hills 29 Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains (Cross Timbers) 30 Edwards Plateau 31 Southern Texas Plains 34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain 40 Central Irregular Plains 42 Northwestern Glaciated Plains 43 Northwestern Great Plains 44 Nebraska Sand Hills 45 Piedmont 46 Northern Glaciated Plains 47 Western Corn Belt Plains 48 Lake Agassiz Plain
Eastern Temperate Forest	32 Texas Blackland Prairies 33 East Central Texas Plains 35 South Central Plains 36 Ouachita Mountains 37 Arkansas Valley 38 Boston Mountains 39 Ozark Highlands 51 North Central Hardwood Forests 52 Driftless Area 53 Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains 54 Central Corn Belt Plains 55 Eastern Corn Belt Plains 56 Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains 57 Huron/Erie Lake Plains 59 Northeastern Coastal Zone 60 Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands 61 Erie Drift Plain 63 Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain 64 Northern Piedmont 65 Southeastern Plains 66 Blue Ridge 67 Ridge and Valley 68 Southwestern Appalachians 69 Central Appalachians 70 Western Allegheny Plateau 71 Interior Plateau 72 Interior River Valleys and Hills 73 Mississippi Alluvial Plain 74 Mississippi Valley Loess Plains 75 Southern Coastal Plain 82 Laurentian Plains and Hills 83 Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands 84 Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens
Northern Forests	49 Northern Minnesota Wetlands 50 Northern Lakes and Forests 58 Northeastern Highlands 62 North Central Appalachians
Tropical Wet Forests	76 Southern Florida Coastal Plain
Southern Semi-Arid Highlands	79 Madrean Archipelago
Taiga	101 Arctic Coastal Plain 102 Arctic Foothills 103 Brooks Range 104 Interior Forested Lowlands and Uplands 106 Interior Bottomlands 107 Yukon Flats 108 Ogilvie Mountains
Tundra	109 Subarctic Coastal Plains 110 Seward Peninsula 112 Bristol Bay-Nushagak Lowlands 114 Aleutian Islands
as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency [1]

v t e Mountains of Arizona
Black Hills (Yavapai County)	Mingus Mountain
Black Mountains	Boundary Cone Fortification Hill Mount Wilson
Bradshaw Mountains	Mount Union
Castle Dome Mountains	Castle Dome
Cerbat Mountains	Mount Tipton
Chiricahua Mountains	Chiricahua Peak
Chuska Mountains	Roof Butte
Dragoon Mountains	Mount Glenn
Hieroglyphic Mountains	White Picacho
Huachuca Mountains	Carr Peak Miller Peak
Hualapai Mountains	Aubrey Peak Hualapai Peak
Little Ajo Mountains	Ajo Peak
Little Dragoon Mountains	Lime Peak Mae West Peaks
Mazatzal Mountains	Four Peaks Mount Ord
McDowell Mountains	East End McDowell Peak Mount McDowell Thompson Peak
Mule Mountains	Mount Ballard (Arizona)
Phoenix Mountains	Camelback Mountain Mummy Mountain Piestewa Peak South Mountains Sunnyslope Mountain
Pinal Mountains	Pinal Peak
Pinaleño Mountains	Mount Graham
Plomosa Mountains	Ibex Peak
Quinlan Mountains	Kitt Peak
Rincon Mountains	Mica Mountain Rincon Peak
San Francisco Peaks	Agassiz Peak Doyle Peak Fremont Peak
San Francisco Volcanic Field	Black Bottom Crater Double Crater Humphreys Peak Kendrick Peak Mount Elden O'Leary Peak Roden Crater S P Crater Strawberry Crater Sunset Crater
Santa Catalina Mountains	Mount Bigelow Mount Lemmon Pusch Ridge Thimble Peak
Santa Rita Mountains	Mount Hopkins Mount Wrightson
Santa Teresa Mountains	Mount Turnbull
Sierra Ancha	Mistake Peak
Sierra Prieta	Granite Mountain
Superstition Mountains	Silly Mountain Superstition Mountain Weavers Needle
Tank Mountains	Black Dome
Tucson Mountains	Sentinel Peak Tumamoc Hill
Whetstone Mountains	Apache Peak
White Mountains	Black Mesa (Navajo County) Escudilla Mountain Mount Baldy
Others	Agathla Peak Agua Caliente Mountains Agua Dulce Mountains Antelope Hill Aquarius Mountains Artillery Mountains Atascosa Mountains Aubrey Hills Baboquivari Peak Balakai Mesa Beaver Dam Mountains Belmont Mountains Bill Williams Mountain Bitsihuitsos Butte Black Hills (Greenlee County) Black Mesa (Apache-Navajo Counties) Black Mesa (Warm Springs) Black Mountain (Maricopa County) Black Mountain (Pima County) Blackjack Mountains Bryan Mountains Buckskin Mountain (Arizona-Utah) Buckskin Mountains (La Paz County) Bush Head Cabeza Prieta Mountains Canelo Hills Carrizo Mountains Cerro Colorado Mountains Chocolate Mountains Copper Mountains Coyote Mountains Date Creek Mountains Dome Rock Mountains Dos Cabezas Mountains Etoi Ki Excalibur Galiuro Mountains Gavilan Peak Gila Bend Mountains Gila Mountains (Graham County) Gila Mountains (Yuma County) Goldfield Mountains Grand Wash Cliffs Granite Mountains Granite Wash Mountains Growler Mountains Gu Achi Peak Guadalupe Mountains Harcuvar Mountains Harquahala Mountains House Mountain Hunts Mesa Isis Temple John the Baptist Mountains Juniper Mesa Kaibab Plateau Kofa Mountains Laguna Mountains Las Guijas Mountains Lime Mountain (Maricopa County} Little Harquahala Mountains Little Rincon Mountains Lukachukai Mountains Madrean Sky Islands Mescal Mountains Mineral Mountains Moccasin Mountains Mohave Mountains Mohawk Mountains Mount Trumbull Muggins Mountains Mustang Mountains Navajo Mountain The Needles New River Mountains New Water Mountains Newton Butte Painted Rock Mountains Pajarito Mountains Patagonia Mountains Peacock Mountains Picacho Peak Picketpost Mountain Pinnacle Peak Poachie Range Poston Butte Rawhide Mountains Sacaton Mountains San Luis Mountains Santa Maria Mountains Sevenmile Mountains Sierra San Antonio Sierra Estrella Sierra Madre Occidental Sierra Pinta Silver Bell Mountains Squaw Tits Sugarloaf Mountain Sunset Mountains Swisshelm Mountains Tempe Butte Temple Butte Tinajas Altas Mountains Tordillo Mountain Tortolita Mountains Trigo Mountains Tule Mountains Tumacacori Mountains Virgin Mountains Vulcan's Throne Vulture Mountains Waterman Mountains Weaver Mountains West Silver Bell Mountains White Tank Mountains Wickenburg Mountains

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST
National	United States Israel

Fauna

See also

References

External links