Community Profile

Summary

Bisbee is located in such an amazing region ecologically. We are at a geographic crossroad: the Mule Mountains rise up at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains and sit at the northern edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Sonoran Desert reaches in from the East and meets the Western boundary of the Chihuahuan Desert. Even the western-most Great Plains introduce their diminishing grasslands to the area. Our mountains add yet another dimension: as the elevation rises, temperatures cool, rainfall increases, plant communities change. All these factors lead to an amazingly rich biodiversity in local flora and fauna. Sandwiched between the two deserts, we possess many plants and animals that are representative of both: cacti, agaves, yuccas, ocotillo and creosote; the cactus wren, kangaroo rats and Gambel’s quail among them. Montezuma quail and the elegant trogon are two examples of species who have moved into Southern Arizona from Mexico, and javelina, coatimundi and jaguars have found new habitat here far from their native ranges in South America. -Trevor Lauber