Natural History
Vegetation on the lower parts of the mountains is xeric shrublands scrub habitat, composed of Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus), Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), and Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera).
The habitat dramatically shifts with elevations above 4000 feet to a sky island where numerous animals and plants flourish in the added moisture caught by the mountains. The plant habitat includes forests of Single-leaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and California Juniper (Juniperus californica), and remnant chaparral and woodlands with Oaks (Quercus turbinella) and Manzanita in these higher parts of the mountains. Mitchell Caverns is home to two endemic species of insects, found nowhere else.
Read more about this topic: Providence Mountains
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