Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
Wildlife refuge
A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally occurring sanctuary, such as an island, that provides protection for species from hunting, predation or competition, or it may refer to a protected area, a geographic territory within which wildlife is protected...
, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located 90 mi (144.8 km) west-northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, in southern Nye County
Nye County, Nevada
-National protected areas:* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Death Valley National Park * Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest * Spring Mountains National Recreation Area -Demographics:...
. This 23000 acres (9,307.8 ha) refuge is part of the larger Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located north and west of Las Vegas, Nevada in northwestern Clark, southwestern Lincoln, and southern Nye counties in southern Nevada...
, which also includes the Desert National Wildlife Refuge
Desert National Wildlife Refuge
The Desert National Wildlife Range is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located north of Las Vegas, Nevada, in northwestern Clark and southwestern Lincoln counties, with much of its land area lying within the southeastern section of the Nevada Test and...
, the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
The Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located in the Warm Springs Natural Area in the Moapa Valley of Clark County, Nevada...
, the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge
Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge
The Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge, located at the southern end of the Pahranagat Valley and administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is situated north of Las Vegas, Nevada in Lincoln County, Nevada...
, and the Amargosa Pupfish Station
Amargosa Pupfish Station
The Amargosa Pupfish Station is a protected Pupfish wildlife refuge, part of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is administered by the U.S...
.
The refuge was established to provide habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
for at least 26 indigenous
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four fish and one plant are currently listed as endangered. This concentration of indigenous life distinguishes Ash Meadows as having a greater concentration of endemic life than any other local area in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the second greatest in all of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Ash Meadows provides a valuable and unprecedented example of desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
oases
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
that are now extremely uncommon in the southwest United States. The refuge is a major discharge point for a vast underground water system stretching more than 100 mi (160.9 km) to the northeast. Water-bearing strata
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
come to the surface in more than 30 seeps
Seep (hydrology)
A Seep is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer.-Description:Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their above-ground location. They are part of the limnology-geomorphology system...
and springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, providing a rich, complex variety of habitats. North and west are the remnants of Carson Slough, which was drained and mined for its peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
in the 1960s. Sand dunes appear in the western and southern parts of the refuge. Numerous stream channels and wetlands are scattered throughout the refuge. Virtually all of the water at Ash Meadows is fossil water
Fossil water
Fossil water or paleowater is groundwater that has remained sealed in an aquifer for a long period of time. Water can rest underground in "fossil aquifers" for thousands or even millions of years...
, believed to have entered the ground water system thousands of years ago.
History
The refuge was created on June 18, 1984 to protect an extremely rare desert oasisOasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
in the southwestern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 2010, Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
announced that a team from the school had discovered two new bee species in the genus Perdita
Perdita (genus)
Perdita is a large genus of bees native to North America, particularly diverse in the desert regions of the United States and Mexico. There are over 700 recognized species and subspecies of Perdita, plus some 200 more as yet unnamed...
at Ash Meadows.
Ecology
There are many endemic plants in Ash Meadows, including Ash Meadows sunrayEnceliopsis nudicaulis
Enceliopsis nudicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name nakedstem sunray, or naked-stemmed daisy.-Distribution:...
(Enceliopsis nudicaulis var. corrugata), Ash Meadows gumplant
Grindelia fraxino-pratensis
Grindelia fraxino-pratensis is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Ash Meadows gumplant, or Ash Meadows gumweed.-Distribution:...
(Grindelia fraxino-pratensis), Amargosa niterwort
Nitrophila mohavensis
Nitrophila mohavensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name Amargosa niterwort. It is endemic to the Amargosa Desert straddling the border between California and Nevada near Death Valley...
(Nitrophila mohavensis), Ash Meadows milkvetch
Astragalus phoenix
Astragalus phoenix is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Ash Meadows milkvetch. It is endemic to Ash Meadows, a desert oasis and wildlife refuge in Nye County, Nevada, near the California border. It is one of several rare plants and animals endemic to the area...
(Astragalus phoenix) and spring-loving centaury
Zeltnera namophila
Zeltnera namophila is a rare species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name spring-loving centaury. It is endemic to Ash Meadows in Nye County, Nevada. It has been seen just over the border in California, but no occurrences are currently confirmed there...
(Zeltnera namophila).