My Biome Adventure at Grand Canyon, Las VegasPrepared by:Venina Chan DevezaNATSC13AB-FDM

LOCATION

You can find The Grand Canyon in the north-central of Arizona about 80 miles north-west of Flagstaff.

Flagstaff, Arizona is the closest city to The Grand Canyon.

It’s latitude is 35N and it’s longitude is 11W.

Grand Canyon’s Map

AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION

The average annual precipitation of Grand Canyon is 16.5 in.

CLIMATE/WEATHER

The elevation of Grand Canyon's North Rim is 8,000 feet above sea level while on the South Rim, it is 7,000 feet above sea level.

Temperatures in Colorado River at the canyon bottom can reach 120 degrees F.

There are 3 seasons: Summer, Winter and Spring/Fall

Summer: South Rim is (50s-80s F; low teens to high 20s C) but on the inner canyon, at daytime highs at the river often exceeds 100 F.

North Rim temperatures are cooler than the South Rim because of its increased elevation

Winter: South Rim’s condition can be extreme. There is lots of snow and roads and trails are icy.

Spring/Fall: For both rims, visitors should be prepared for sudden changes in the weather because the weather is quite unpredictable.

PLANTS PRESENT IN GRAND CANYON

CLADOPHORA: it is a filamentous green algae, that is abundant in both cool and clear river water. It is an important algae for this is the source of food of the aquatic invertebrates (ex: amphipods).

Cladophora is also known as river weed or rock river weed.

It came from the kingdom of Plantae.

It came from the Clapdophoraceae family.

ARROWWEED(Pluchea sericea): It is a shrub formed in an upright position. It is a salt tolerant plant and typically grows in areas with low to moderate soil salinity. It often grows between Marc to July.

Native Americans usually use the stems of Arroweed for arrow shafts and the wood to build shelters.

It came from the Sunflower(Asteraceae) family.

PLANTS PRESENT IN GRAND CANYON

SEEP WILLOW(Baccharis salicifolia): It’s form is straight, slender stalks and long narrow deciduous leaves. It grows in similar sandy floodplains. But it remains a bush in size (up to 12 feet tall at the most; usually less)

Like the arrowweed, it alsocame from the Sunflower (Asteraceae) family.

The name is deceives us because it is named as a seep willow though it’s not really a willow.

It occurs in wet areas.

ANIMALS PRESENT IN GRAND CANYON

MOUNTAIN LION: This creature is powerful, graceful and can adapt easily. Than any other land mammals, mountain lions are the ones occupying the territory and environmental niches more.

Not a fan of sharing their territory. They are constantly on the lookout for invaders.

They hunt by stalking and then ambushing the prey. Their hunting attributes are as follows: powerful legs for rapid acceleration and pouncing and teeth designed for seizing, slashing and tearing.

DEER: They are a ruminant animal that came from the Cervidae family. They usually live in a variety of biomes ranging from tundra to the tropical rainforest.

The normal weight ranges from 30 to 250 kilograms (70 to 600 lb), though the Northern Pudu averages 10 kilograms (20 lb).

ANIMALS PRESENT IN GRAND CANYON

SQUIRREL: They came from a large family of small or medium- sized rodents called the Sciuridae. Squirrels are first seen in the Eocene, about 40 million years ago, and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to dormice among living species.

Squirrels live in almost every habitat from tropical rainforest to semiarid desert.

Squirrels are tree-dwelling species that have an excellent vision.

Importance of Biome to my Course

Grand Canyon is important to my course as grand canyon offers a lot of adventure spots and activities that cater to the tourists as well as the fashion industry.

LINKS

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-191501873-grand_canyon_vacations-i

http://www.desertusa.com/gc/gc_map.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/wildlife-in-grand-canyon-a143615

http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USAZ0088

http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/plants/shrubs_sewi.htm

http://www.desertusa.com/may96/du_mlion.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel