The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge located in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, in southwestern Nevada. It is directly east of Death Valley National Park, and is west-northwest of Las Vegas.Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
In 1983 The Nature Conservancy purchased 12,613 acres that had been slated for development to protect Ash Meadows. The Nature Conservancy transferred the land to the Fish and Wildlife Service and the refuge was created on June 18, 1984, to protect this extremely rare desert oasis in the Mojave Desert.
Ash Meadows is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Geography
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is part of the larger Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which also includes the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. Inside Ash Meadows is Devils Hole, a detached unit of Death Valley National Park.
Ash Meadows is within the Amargosa Desert, of the Mojave Desert ecoregion. The Amargosa River is a visible part of the valley hydrology, and has seasonal surface flow passing southwards adjacent to the preserve, to later enter Death Valley.
Natural history Ash Meadows contains desert oases, a habitat type that is uncommon in the southwestern deserts. The refuge is a major discharge point for an underground aquifer system extending more than 100 mi (160 km) to the northeast. Water-bearing strata reach the surface through more than thirty seeps and springs, which support a variety of mesic habitats.
Virtually all of the water at Ash Meadows is fossil water, believed to have entered the ground water system tens of thousands of years ago.FWS.gov: Profile . accessed 10.1.2013
Numerous stream channels and wetlands are scattered throughout the refuge. To the north and west are the remnants of Carson Slough, which was drained and mined for its peat in the 1960s. Sand dunes occur in the western and southern parts of the refuge.
Endemic plants and animals
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide and protect habitat for at least twenty-six endemic plants and animals, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.
The concentration of locally exclusive flora and fauna that distinguishes Ash Meadows is the greatest concentration of endemic biota in any local area within the United States. It has the second greatest local endemism concentration in all of North America.
Endemic flora
There are many plants endemic to Ash Meadows, including:
Ash Meadows blazing star (Mentzelia leucophylla), Threatened Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis), Endangered Ash Meadows milk-vetch (Astragalus phoenix), Threatened Ash Meadows sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis var. corrugata), Threatened Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxinopratensis), Threatened Ash Meadows ivesia (Ivesia kingii var. eremica), Threatened Ash Meadows lady's tresses (Spiranthes infernalis) Tecopa birdsbeak (Chloropyron tecopense) Spring-loving centaury (Zeltnera namophila), Threatened
Endemic fauna
There are also a large number of endemic invertebrates and fish in the refuge:
Ash Meadows naucorid (Ambrysus amargosus) Threatened Warm Springs naucorid (Ambrysus relictus) Devils Hole warm spring riffle beetle (Stenelmis calida calida) Ash Meadows pebble snail (Pyrgulopsis erythropoma) Crystal springs snail (Pyrgulopsis crystalis) Distal-gland springsnail (Pyrgulopsis nanus) Elongate gland springsnail (Pyrgulopsis isolatus) Fairbanks Spring snail (Pyrgulopsis fairbanksinsis) Median-gland Nevada spring snail (Pyrgulopsis pisteri) Amargosa tryonia (Tryonia variegata) Minute tryonia (Tryonia erica) Point of Rocks tryonia (Tryonia elata) Sportinggoods tryonia (Tryonia angulata) Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), Endangered Warm Springs pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis), Endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes), Endangered Ash Meadows speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis), Endangered
Discoveries In 2010, Utah State University announced that a team from the school had discovered two new bee species in the genus Perdita at Ash Meadows.
References
External links
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: official Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge website U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex website Worldwidepanorama.org: 360° interactive panoramic photo at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge