Sensitive Habitats

Chaparral Habitat

Several canyons, located within the New York Mountains, contains a unique assemblage of plants and an interesting blending of plant communities not found elsewhere within the Preserve. Besides the small stand white fir trees (see section below), an “enriched” pinyon-juniper-oak woodland, or interior chaparral community, is found in Caruthers, Keystone, and Live Oak Canyons. Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens), oaks (Quercus chrysolepis and Q. turbinella), silktassel (Garrya flavescens), single-leaved ash (Fraxinus anomala) western service-berry (Amelanchier utahensis), holly-leafed redberry (Rhamnus ilicifolia), yerba santa (Eriodictyon angustifolium), and desert olive (Forestiera neomexicana) are all species that occur in the chaparral habitats of California and Arizona. Chaparral is typically a fire tolerant community, supporting intense fire due to volatile compounds in the plants, but recovering over time to a similar community. Calcicolous scrub, a community that grows only highly calcic soils, is also found within the New York Mountains.

White Fir Populations

Small populations of Rocky Mountain white fir (Abies concolor concolor), relict populations from the late Pleistocene-early Holocene period can be found in the upper reaches of the New York Mountains and on Clark Mountain. These pockets of white fir trees probably exist due to favorable conditions at the microsite level, with humidities in these small areas sufficient to favor sufficiently low evapotranspiration rates (Latting and Rowlands 1995). These north-facing canyons are wetter and cooler than the surrounding desert and shelter these relict stands.

Joshua Tree Woodlands

The most obvious feature of Cima Dome, next to its unique geological form, is the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana). The Joshua tree woodland covering the dome and surrounding areas is considered to be the largest and most dense stand within the tree’s range, covering in excess of 150 square miles and probably containing more than a million trees. Although methods of aging of the trees are still subject to some disagreement, some of the trees with base diameters in excess of three feet and heights of 30 feet or more, may be 500–1,000 years old. The Joshua tree forest on the Cima Dome has not been surveyed and mapped for age distribution, nor are there any quantitative data to indicate the status of new seedling recruitment into the population. Joshua