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The Sonoran Desert

2019 
Abstract The Sonoran Desert has been identified as one of the most distinctive ecoregions in the world, recognized for its columnar cacti such as the saguaro and cardon. It is home to 130 mammal, 400 + bird, 100 endemic reptile, 750 bee, and nearly 2500 endemic plant species. This great variety of species and habitats is due to the desert's subtropical climate, wide-ranging topography, bimodal rainfall pattern, and location at the crossroads of several different ecoregions. Geologic processes shaped the landscape and created the Gulf of California, a biologically rich body of water that influences the region's climate. The desert's biota faces numerous challenges including increasing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, loss of native vegetation from invasive species and livestock grazing, habitat fragmentation from transportation and border wall infrastructure, and loss of habitat and riparian areas due to human expansion and groundwater pumping. In the US, nearly 3.88 million hectares (9.58 million acres) is protected from development or other incursions, although other threats to the ecoregion are ongoing. In Mexico, nearly 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) have been set aside as biosphere reserves and other protected areas. A large marine biosphere reserve in the northern Gulf of California has been unsuccessful at preventing the alarming population decline of the vaquita porpoise, which hovers on the brink of extinction.
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