Life in the Sonoran Desert
Download information as a PDF file (917 KB)

Scottsdale is located in central Arizona in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert is a magnificent backdrop for everyday life. For visitors and newcomers, the Sonoran can be a mysterious place full of peculiar plants and animals.

The Sonoran Desert covers nearly 100,000 square miles in southern Arizona, northern Mexico (state of Sonora), southeastern California, and northeastern Baja California. What exactly is a desert? For many people, the word "desert" conjures up thoughts of sand dunes, intense heat, and strange reptilian creatures. But deserts can also be icy expanses such as the polar deserts of Antarctica or, in the case of the Sonoran Desert, they can be more temperate climates that support hearty cacti, lush plants, and abundant wildlife. What do all deserts have in common? Aridity. Deserts are dry places where rainfall is minimal - for example, Scottsdale's average annual rainfall is just over seven inches. Simply put, a desert will result anywhere significantly more moisture could theoretically be evaporated from the soil than is replaced by precipitation. Visit the following Web sites for more information:

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
• Arizona Game and Fish Department
• Arizona Herpetological Association
• Arizona Native Plant Society
• Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park
• Desert Botanical Garden

© SOCIETY FOR AMBULATORY ANESTHESIA
520 N. Northwest Highway Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-2573
Tel: (847) 825-5586 Fax: (847) 825-5658
E-mail: samba@asahq.org