Natural history of Sonora

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 68. Chapters: Flora of Sonora, Gran Desierto de Altar, Islands of Sonora, Marine fauna of the Gulf of California, Trees of Sonora, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, Fouquieria columnaris, Larrea tridentata, Puerto Peñasco, Mexican Federal Highway 2, Sea Urchins of the Northern Gulf of California, Limber Pine, El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, Abies concolor, Vaquita, Acacia greggii, Celtis reticulata, El Camino Del Diablo, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Ferocactus wislizeni, Quercus arizonica, Olneya tesota, Fouquieria splendens, Prosopis glandulosa, Juniperus scopulorum, Desmanthus bicornutus, Madrean Region, Populus fremontii, Atriplex lentiformis, Grapsus grapsus, Tiburón Island, Pinacate Peaks, Ficus insipida, Cylindropuntia fulgida, Salix taxifolia, Yucca baccata, East Pacific Red Octopus, Prosopis pubescens, Stenocereus thurberi, Salix bonplandiana, Quercus gambelii, Parkinsonia aculeata, Washingtonia robusta, Gaillardia pulchella, Cylindropuntia bigelovii, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Cupressus arizonica, Canotia holacantha, Rhamnus betulaefolia, Robinia neomexicana, Purshia mexicana, Fraxinus velutina, Platanus wrightii, Hyptis emoryi, Hibiscus denudatus, Ambrosia trifida, Bursera microphylla, Escobaria robbinsiorum, Limacia cockerelli, Opuntia engelmannii, Agave angustifolia, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Psorothamnus spinosus, Parkinsonia microphylla, Eysenhardtia orthocarpa, Condalia globosa, Opuntia gosseliniana, Echinocactus horizonthalonius, Amsonia kearneyana, Yucca schottii, Salvia columbariae, Spanish shawl, Lilium parryi, Methanopyrus, Fagonia laevis, Karwinskia humboldtiana, Geoglobus, Abutilon incanum, Philadelphus microphyllus, Hermissenda crassicornis, Acacia constricta, Phoradendron leucarpum, Dasylirion wheeleri, Tiquilia canescens, Alnus oblongifolia, Pholisma sonorae, Parkinsonia florida, Navanax inermis, Arbutus arizonica, Sarcostemma hirtellum, Sphaeralcea ambigua, Pinacate beetle, Valley and range sequence-Southern Yuma County, Madrean Sky Islands, Opuntia chlorotica, Atriplex hymenelytra, Bursera fagaroides, Dalea pulchra, Pacific Argonaut, Vitis arizonica, Cylindropuntia ramosissima, San Esteban Island, Durango Pine, Viguiera parishii, Bumpy, Peucephyllum, San Pedro Nolasco Island, Glossodoris sedna, Nicotiana obtusifolia, Dalea albiflora, Bahiopsis laciniata, Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, Glycimeris shell, Gymnothorax castaneus, Asclepias asperula, Zinnia acerosa, Guaiacum coulteri, Huivulai, Antigonon leptopus, Sabal uresana, Zebra moray, Mexican Federal Highway 8. Excerpt: Puerto Peñasco is a city and municipality located in the northwest of the state of Sonora about 100 km from the Arizona border. It is located on the small strip of land that joins the peninsula of Baja California with the rest of Mexico. The area is part of the Altar Desert, one of the driest and hottest of the larger Sonora Desert. Because of the lack of water, this area had no permanent settlements until the 1920s. In the 1930s and 1940s, the construction of a rail line connecting Baja to the rest of Mexico passed through here and allowed for the development of a permanent town. For most of its history, the area has been associated with fishing, which is still a major source of income. However, since the 1990s, there has been a push to develop the area for tourism, as it is already heavily visited by people from Arizona and California. Puerto Peñasco is often called "Rocky Point" i...