Lower Colorado River Valley

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A section of the LCRV showing the Colorado Desert (yellow dotted line) in the west, the Salton Sea, and the three US bordering states on the Colorado River. Portions of the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora also shown. Proximity to San Diego and the rain shadow of coastal mountains is also shown.
The Colorado River watershed; the LCRV arbitrarily starts south of Lake Mead, at Hoover Dam in Nevada.

The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is the river region of the lower

states of Baja California and Sonora. This north–south stretch of the Colorado River forms the border between the U.S. states of California/Arizona and Nevada/Arizona,[1]
and between the Mexican states of Baja California/Sonora.

It is commonly defined as the region from below

Colorado River Indian Reservations; at Yuma are the Quechan and Cocopah
reservations.

Ecology

creosote bush
scrubland on hillsides.

Some of the highest air temperatures in North America are recorded in the LCRV, rivaling

Baja Peninsula cordillera to Baja California Sur, and southeast Sonora state, Mexico to the northern border of neighboring Sinaloa
.

The LCRV extends about 350 miles (563 km) from Hoover Dam to the

indicator species
of the Sonoran Desert region. The spring flowering of ironwood, and the bat species migration arrivals also become indicators of annual or multi-year climate trends for regions of the Sonoran Desert.

Fauna

Main article: List of fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley

Flora

The Lower Colorado River Valley has unique plant communities because it is the most arid part of the desert and it has the highest temperatures, in excess of 120 °F (49 °C) during the summer. The low humidity means that most plants must have mechanisms that deal with severe water loss through evaporation. The soils tend to be typical

organic horizons, and plants can only obtain soil water during and very soon after the infrequent rains.[3]

Dominant plants in the valleys are low shrubs such as Ambrosia dumosa (white bursage) and Larrea tridentata (creosote bush). Over half of the floral diversity comprises annual species, with even higher percentages in drier habitats.[3] Vulnerable species and plant communities include saltbush/wolfberry flats, saguaro, nightblooming cereus cacti, tamarisks, barrel cactus, Sonoran panicgrass, and acuna cactus (a subspecies of Sclerocactus johnsonii).[4]

Threats

The Lower Colorado River Valley subregion of the Sonoran Desert bioregion has multiple threats. Some major threats include

sand dunes, and harvesting and manipulation of groundwater.[4]

List of major cities and communities

Complete list of towns, areas, etc, north to south

Feeder-valleys, or included small valleys

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lower Colorado River Valley.
  1. ^ "Lower Colorado River Valley" section, Center for Sonoran Desert Studies; [1]
  2. OCLC 4053799
    .
  3. ^ a b "Sonoran Desertscrub – Lower Colorado River Valley by Mark A. Dimmitt :: ASDM Sonoran Desert Digital Library". Desertmuseumdigitallibrary.org. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b Ecological threats, Lower Colorado River Valley
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