Fauna and Flora
The creek and its riparian zone support about 200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The list includes many special-status species such as the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Chiricahua leopard frog. The watershed supports 27 species of neotropical migratory birds such as the Sage Sparrow and 20 species such as the Common Black Hawk that are rated sensitive by the U.S. Forest Service. Mammals found in or near Fossil Creek include otter and beaver, Merriam's shrew, a variety of bats, and other species. Among the reptiles and amphibians are the Arizona toad, and the reticulated Gila monster.
Native fish in Fossil Creek include headwater chub, roundtail chub, speckled dace, longfin dace, Sonora sucker, and desert sucker. Between 2007 and 2010, the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added native spikedace, loach minnows, Gila topminnows, and razorback suckers as well as more longfin dace above the barrier. All except speckled dace are special-status fish listed as endangered, threatened, or sensitive by federal or state agencies. In addition, more than 100 macroinvertebrate species live in the Fossil Creek watershed. One, the fossil springsnail, is listed sensitive by the U.S. Forest Service.
Fossil Creek's riparian zones provide high-quality habitat for plant species native to the area. These include deciduous trees such as the Arizona alder and Fremont cottonwood as well as a wide variety of shrubs, grasses, ferns, and other understory plants. Species diversity is higher above the site of the former power-plant dam, especially near Fossil Springs. In 1987, a 26-acre (11 ha) plot above the dam was set aside as the Fossil Springs Botanical Area. Plant inventories taken between 2003 and 2005 identified 166 plant species in the botanical area and 314 species of flowering plants and ferns in the larger Fossil Creek area.
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Famous quotes containing the words fauna and/or flora:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)