Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Flora
Colorado's vegetation is closely linked to climate, which in turn depends on both elevation
and rainfall. Vegetation at altitude can still vary depending upon exposure and the availabil-
ity of water. That's why the San Juans and Spanish Peaks can look so different in places
from the Maroon Bells and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Sparse piñon-juniper forests cover the Rockies' slopes from about 4000ft to 6000ft,
while ponderosa pines indicate the montane zone between 6000ft and 9000ft, where de-
ciduous alders, luscious white-barked aspens (their lime-green foliage turns gold in fall),
willows and the distinctive blue spruce flourish in damper areas. In the subalpine zone,
above 9000ft, Engelmann spruce largely replace pine (though some stands of lodgepoles
grow higher), while colorful wildflowers such as columbine, marsh marigold and primrose
colonize open spaces. In the alpine zone above 11,500ft, alpine meadows and tundra sup-
plant stunted trees, which can grow only in sheltered, southern exposures.
East of the Rockies, the Great Plains are an immense grassland of short and tall grasses,
interrupted by dense gallery forests of willows and cottonwoods along the major rivers.
The best example of intact savanna is found in the Pawnee National Grassland, where the
Pawnee Buttes loom. A good example of eastern Colorado's riparian (riverbank) foliage is
found along the Arkansas River near Bent's Old Fort on the Santa Fe Trail. Those arid
zones closest to the Rockies consist of shorter species such as wheatgrass, grama and buf-
falo grass, which grow no higher than about 3ft.
Four species of fox are native to Colorado. Red foxes live in mountain riparian zones, gray foxes like
canyons, swift foxes live in the eastern plains and kit foxes live in the western deserts.
