Cultural Sites of the Southwest

The following is a list of National Historic Landmarks, other nationally designated sites, and notable sites of the prehistoric, historic, and scientific landscape in the Southwest, 30 to 40 degrees North, 110 to 120 degrees West.  World Heritage Sites and a narrative were provided in the previous entry.  Sites are keyed to the cultural landscape map in the previous entry.

I.  US National Historic Landmarks

Ahwahnee, Yosemite National Park, California. This resort hotel in the eastern end of Yosemite Valley was opened in 1927 and is still in use (site 1 on map). Ecoregion NA527.

Angelus Temple, Los Angeles. Made famous by a depression-era radio evangelist.

Awatovi Ruins, Hopi Tribal Land (Site 2 on map). An Indian village encountered by Coronado’s men in 1540 contains a 500-year old pueblo and a 17^th century Spanish mission. The village was abandoned in 1700 due to tensions between Hope traditionalists and Christian converts. Ecoregion NA1304.

Balboa City Park, San Diego. Constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it includes America’s finest examples of Spanish baroque architecture. Ecoregion NA1201.

Baldwin Hills Village, Los Angeles. Located in southwest LA, this park-like residential community is now condominiums known as the Village Green. Created during the depression by a prominent Los Angeles architect, the intent was to provide affordable housing. It is listed because of its advances in community planning and architecture. Streets and parks are lined with mature sycamore and olive trees.

Bancroft, Hubert H., Ranch, Spring Valley, California (Site 3 on map). Home of he noted historian of the American West. Ecoregion NA1201.

Barnesdall, Aline Complex, Los Angeles. Built in 1921 as Frank Lloyd Wright’s first commission in California.

Berkeley, San Diego Maritime Museum, California. The nation’s oldest car and passenger ferry, built 1898.

Bradbury Building, Los Angeles. This five-story office building from 1893 is known for its cobwebs of cast iron covered with Art Nouveau ornamentation.

Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons, Coso Mountains, China Lake Naval Weapons Center, California (site 4 on map). Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons contain the most spectacular petroglyph areas in the western US, with 20,000 designs showing bighorn sheep, deer, antelope. Along the canyon walls are anthropomorphic figures showing dogs attacking sheep and people hunting sheep. Piled rock statues are ‘dummy hunters’ of bighorn sheep. Ecoregion NA1308.

Bodie State Historical Park, California, and Bodie Hills Area of Critical Environmental Concern, BLM Bishop District, California (site 5 on map). The finest example of a gold mining ghost town in the West, dating from 1859. Ecoregion NA1305.

Bryce Canyon Lodge and Deluxe Cabins, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah (Site 6 on map). Built 1924 to 1929, the rustic architecture encouraged by the National Park Service was constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad. Ecoregion NA530.

Colter, Mary Jane, Buildings, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). Four structures on the South Rim designed by architect Colter and built by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad make up this site. The Hopi House (1905), located in Grand Canyon Village, was modeled after a Hopi pueblo and was used to sell Indian handicrafts. The Lookout Studio (1914), also in Grand Canyon Village, was a photography studio. Hermit’s Rest (1914) is the western terminus of the Rim Trail. Desert View Watchtower (1932), a 70-foot tall tower at the east end of the park, is used as a gift shop and observation point. Ecoregion NA503 and NA1304.

Coronado, Hotel del, Coronado, California (site 8 on map). Constructed in 1887, the hotel had the first electrical system and is considered the most architecturally interesting luxury hotel in the U.S.

Desert Botanical Laboratory (Tumamoc Hill), University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (site 9 on map). This 854-acre site, operated today by the University of Arizona, was the site where the science of plant ecology was born. It is also the earliest known trincheras village, dating to 2000 BC, and houses thousands of petroglyphs. Ecoregion NA1310.

Desolation Canyon, Uinta and Ouray Indian Reservation (site 10 on map). This area along the Green River remains little changed from the time it was first explored by John Wesley Powell in 1869. Ecoregion NA1304.

Eames House, Pacific Palisades, California (site 11 on map). Case Study House Number 8 was one of the most significant post World War II experiments in domestic architecture.

Ely Yards, Nevada Northern Railway Museum, Ely (site 12 on map). Listed because it escaped modernization when other yards were upgraded to diesel, it is the best-preserved and least altered railroad yard complex remaining from the steam era. Ecoregion NA1305.

Estudillo House, Old Town San Diego State Historical Park, San Diego. An adobe house built in 1827, finest in Mexican California.

Flores Adobe, Marine Corps Camp Pendleton, California (site 13 on map). Built 1864, this structure is considered the best example of the Monterrey Colonial style of architecture, which combines New England and Mexican adobe traditions.

Fort Churchill State Historic Park, Nevada (site 14 on map). This site served from 1860 to 1870 as a Pony Express Station, a telegraph site, and emigrant trail protection for the Carson Route of the California Trail. Ecoregion NA1305.

Fort Huachuca Historical Museum, Arizona (site 15 on map). This fort subjugated the Chiracahua Apache, the last free-ranging Indian group, in 1886, and was home to the Army’s four all-black regiments. Ecoregion NA1303.

Forty Acres, Delano, California (site 16 on map). This gas station was the birthplace of the farm workers movement, led by Cesar Chavez, in 1970. Ecoregion NA1202.

Gamble, David B., House, Pasadena (site 17 on map). One of the finest expressions of the Arts and Crafts movement. The design of the house, constructed in 1908, was influenced by the Japanese pavilion at the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.

Gatlin Site, Gila Bend, Arizona (site 18 on map). Occupied before 900 CE, this site contains a Hohokam platform mound, ball courts, houses, and canals. It is owned by the City of Gila Bend. Ecoregion NA1310.

Grand Canyon Depot, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). This rustic railroad depot was built in 1910.

Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). This stone and log lodge with 100 log cabins was built 1936 by the Union Pacific Railroad as a destination resort.

Grand Canyon Park Operations Building, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). Erected in 1929, this is a prime example of the rustic style employed by the National Park Service.

Grand Canyon Power House, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). Built in 1926 with a Swiss chalet design to disguise its power house function.

Grand Canyon Village, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). This early twentieth century facility is the largest town developed by the National Park Service to meet the needs of visitors and park staff.

Guajome Rancho Adobe, Vista, California (site 19 on map). The finest remaining example of a Mexican ranch headquarters, built 1852. Ecoregion NA1201.

Gonzales House, Santa Barbara. A Mexican-era adobe house built 1825.

Hale Solar Observatory, Pasadena (site 17 on map). This was the office and workshop of Ellery Hale, the person most responsible for the rise of astrophysics in the U.S. See Mount Wilson Observatory in other points of interest below.

Harada House, Riverside, California (site 20 on map). In California v. Harada (1916-1918), the court ruled that all native-born children, even minor children of immigrant parents, could own land.

Hohokam Pima National Monument, Gila River Indian Community (site 21 on map). The Snaketown archaeological site, dating to 300 BCE and abandoned 1100 CE, contains a pueblo and associated agricultural features. The area has been excavated for archaeological research and covered. Ecoregion NA1310.

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada (site 22 on map). Listed as the greatest achievement in hydraulic engineering since the Panama Canal; a historic civil engineering landmark. Ecoregion NA1308.

Hubble, Edwin, House, San Marino (site 17 on map). Home of one of America’s greatest astronomers.

Jerome State Historic Park and Historic District, Arizona (site 23 on map). This preserves the richest copper-producing area in the early 20^th century. The mine closed in 1953, but the town was preserved as a tourist attraction. Ecoregion NA503.

Kinishba Ruins, White Mountain Apache Tribal Land (site 24 on map). This 600-room village was built in the 1100s and abandoned in the 14^th or 15^th century. Ecoregon NA503.

Lane Victory Ship, San Pedro (site 25 on map). One of the last remaining of 414 Victory Ships, it is a memorial to Merchant Marine veterans of World War II.

Leconte Memorial Lodge, Yosemite National Park, California (site 1 on map). Built by the Sierra Club in 1903, it is a library and education center still operated by the club. Ecoregion NA527.

Lehner Mammoth Kill Site, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Arizona (site 45 on map). About 11,000 years ago, hunters killed and butchered mammoths on this site.

Leonard Rock Shelter, Nevada (site 26 on map). At the terminus of the Humboldt and Carson Rivers are marshy sinks. This early prehistoric site overlooks the sinks and has a continuous record of human occupation from 6700 BCE to 1400 CE. Ecoregion NA1305.

Little Tokyo Historic District, Los Angeles. Before World War II, this was the largest Japanese-American community in America.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles. Used for Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984.

Los Cerritos Ranch House, Long Beach, California (site 25 on map). Among the largest ranch houses built in Mexican California, 1844, the building is in a city park. Ecoregion NA1201.

Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona (site 26 on map). The 1894 observatory where Percival Lowell and other scientists studied Mars, discovered Pluto, developed the science of dendrochronology, and discovered that the universe continues to expand.

Manzanar National Historic Site, California (site 27 on map). Located in the Owens Valley, this was one of ten war relocation centers where Japanese-American citizens were interned during World War II. Ecoregions NA 1305 and NA1308.

Merriam, C. Hart, Base Camp, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (site 28 on map). Located on the northwest slopes of Humphreys Peak, this area to the north of Flagstaff on Forest Road 151 was where Dr. C. Hart Merriam formulated his Life Zone Concept in 1889. Ecoregion NA503.

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, San Diego. The first of the 21 California missions, built 1769.

Mission Beach Roller Coaster, Mission Beach, California (San Diego). Built 1925 as part of the Mission Beach Amusement Center, an early 20^th century recreational development.

Mission Dam, San Diego. This 1817 dam was the first major irrigation project on the Pacific Coast and impounded water for milling and irrigating fields at Mission San Diego de Alcala. Ecoregion NA1201.

Mission Inn, Riverside, California (site 20 on map). Established 1876, this has grown into a lavish resort hotel.

Mission Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Arizona (site 29 on map). The northernmost extension of the Jesuit mission in New Spain, this site was built in 1745 and abandoned in 1773. Ecoregion NA1303.

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, Oceanside, California (site 19 on map). Founded 1798, the present church was built in 1815 and is part of California’s most pristine mission complex.

Modjeska, Helena, House and Forest of Arden Garden, Orange County Park, California (site 30 on map). A wooden cottage was the home of Helena Modjeska, from 1888 to 1906, one of the first ‘stars’ to settle in southern California. Ecoregion NA1201.

Mountain Meadows Massacre, Dixie National Forest, Utah (site 31 on map). The site of an 1857 attack on an immigrant party bound for California on the Old Spanish Trail by the Utah Territorial Militia. Ecoregion NA1304.

Newlands, Francis G. Home, Reno, Nevada (site 32 on map). Home of the representative who authored the Reclamation Act of 1902 which enabled agriculture throughout the West.

Nixon, Richard M., Birthplace, Yorba Linda, California (site 33 on map). This bungalow was the birthplace and home from 1913 to 1922.

Oak Grove Butterfield Stage Station, Temecula Valley south of Aguanga, California (site 34 on map). Part of the first transcontinental stagecoach service, operating from 1858 to 1861 between San Francisco and St. Louis or Memphis. Ecoregion 1201.

Oraibi, Hopi Tribal Land (site 35 on map). The oldest continuously occupied village in the US, dating to 1150 CE. Ecoregion NA1304.

Parson’s Memorial Lodge, Yosemite National Park (site 1 on map). Built 1915 as one of the first rustic stone buildings in a national park, it is used as a nature center. Ecoregion NA527.

Pico Canyon Oil Field, Well No. 4, Santa Clarita Woodlands Park, Newhall, California (site 36 on map). Administered by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency, this was the birthplace of California’s oil industry in the 1870s. The oil field here led to the formation of the Standard Oil Company of California. Ecoregions NA1201 and NA1203.

Pioneer Deep Space Station, Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, Fort Irwin, California (site 37 on map). This antenna constructed in 1958 supports unmanned exploration of deep space. Ecoregion NA 1308.

Presidio City Park, San Diego. Site of the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the present-day U.S., the park offers trails and gardens.

Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, Phoenix, Arizona. This Phoenix city park preserves sections of prehistoric irrigation canals in the Salt River Valley. The Hohokam Canal System is a historic civil engineering landmark. See overview section. Ecoregion NA1310.

Ralph J. Scott, San Pedro (site 25 on map). Still in use, this 1925 fireboat operates out of a berth in San Pedro.

Ranger’s Club, Yosemite National Park, California (site 1 on map). A rustic chalet built to house rangers in 1924 and still in use. Ecoregion NA527.

Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California (site 38 on map). The largest natural landing field in the West, this site has been used for aircraft flight testing since 1933. It was here that the first flights broke the sound barrier. Ecoregion NA1308.

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California (site 17 on map). The first and most renowned of the postseason college bowl games, established in 1916.

Saddle Rock Ranch Pictograph Site, Malibu, California (site 39 on map). A Chumash site famous for the pictograph of the four horsemen, considered to be a drawing of a Spanish exploring party. Ecoregion NA1201.

San Cayetano de Calabazas, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Arizona (site 29 on map). Established 1756, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza led over 300 people from here to the San Francisco Bay in 1775-76 to establish a Spanish colony and presidio there. Ecoregion NA1303.

Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara. The most architecturally distinguished link in California’s 21-mission chain.

Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome, Santa Monica (site 11 on map). Built in 1916 to house a carousel at the Santa Monica Pier.

San Xavier del Bac Mission, Tohono O’Odham Nation (site 40 on map). Built 1783 at the northern edge of New Spain and known as the ‘White Dove of the Desert,’ it is the finest Spanish Colonial church in the U.S. and a site on the Anza National Historic Trail. Ecoregion NA1310.

Scripps Building, La Jolla, California (site 41 on map). The “old Scripps building” is the oldest building in continuous use by a oceanographic research institution, built 1909.

Sierra Bonita Ranch, Willcox, Arizona (site 42 on map). The first permanent American cattle ranch in Arizona, founded 1872. Ecoregion NA1303.

Sinclair, Upton House, Monrovia, California (site 17 on map). Principal home of the most influential American novelist in the category of social justice.

Space Flight Operations Facility, Pasadena, California (site 17 on map). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the primary center for unmanned exploration of the planets. The on-site 25-foot Space Simulator is also a NHL.

Star of India, Maritime Museum of San Diego. The oldest iron-hulled merchantman afloat in the world, constructed 1863.

Steedman Estate (Casa del Herrero), Santa Barbara. Built in 1925, this historic house museum and garden is the most fully developed and intact example of Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture, also called the America Country Place Era. Ecoregion NA1203.

Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona (site 43 on map). The winter quarters of Frank Lloyd Wright, begun 1937, are a showcase of his ability to integrate outdoor and indoor spaces. Ecoregion NA1310.

Titan Missile Museum, Sahuarita, Arizona (site 44 on map). The only publicly accessible Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile site in the nation, designed to survive a first-strike nuclear attack and to launch warheads. Ecoregion NA1310.

Tombstone Historic District and Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Arizona (site 45 on map). The best preserved frontier town of the 1870s. Ecoregion NA1303.

Topaz War Relocation Center (Central Utah Relocation Center) (site 46 on map). Located west of Delta, Utah, this site housed Japanese Americans during World War II. Ecoregion NA1305.

El Tovar, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (site 7 on map). This rustic 1905 hotel was built by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad as the focal point for the Grand Canyon resort and is still in use today.

Tumacacori Museum and Visitor Center, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Arizona (site 29 on map). Built 1939 on the site of the oldest mission in Arizona (1691), this visitor center is a fine example of Mission Revival architecture, but also it was constructed as an interpretive device so that visitors could better understand the architectural sense and history of that monument's prime resource: the Tumacacori Mission. The park is a site on the Anza National Historic Trail. Ecoregion NA1303.

Ventana Cave, Tohono O’Odham Nation (site 47 on map). This site contains archaeological deposits dating to 11,000 BCE and records interaction of humans with extinct Pleistocene mammals. Ecoregion NA1310.

Virginia City Historic District, Nevada (site 48 on map). The first silver boomtown, dating from 1859. The NHL includes Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City, and Dayton. Ecoregion NA1305.

Walker Pass, Bureau of Land Management, Bakersfield District, Campground and Trailhead, California (site 49 on map). The first immigrant wagon train to California came through this pass in 1843. Ecoregions NA1203 and NA1308.

Warner Springs Ranch, California (site 50 on map). Established 1844, this was a pioneering cattle ranch and served as a resting place for overland travelers crossing the southern immigrant trails. Ecoregion NA1201.

Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historical Park, Los Angeles. The three tall towers and six short towers are among the finest examples of naïve art and are a symbol of Los Angeles.

Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio, Yosemite National Park, California (site 1 on map). The largest and best-preserved Victorian-era hotel complex within a National Park is located in the southern part of the park. The Thomas Hill Studio was the sales room for the famous landscape painter. Ecoregion NA527.

Winona Site and Ridge Ruin, Winona, Arizona (site 51 on map). Following the eruption of Sunset Crater in 1066 CE, this site was established; it was excavated in the 1930s and 1950s and contains a ballcourt and pueblo. Ecoregion NA503 and NA1304.

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, Arizona and California (site 52 on map). The Colorado River crossing was significant in Spanish colonial and US westward expansion. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park and Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park are in Arizona, while Fort Yuma is on Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Land across the Colorado River. Ecoregion NA1310.

II.  National Historic Trails

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, Arizona, California, Baja California, and Sonora. De Anza opened an emigrant trail from Sonora to San Francisco in 1775. Sites include Tumacacori National Historical Park (see NHL list), Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, San Xavier del Bac (see NHL list), Saguaro National Park, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Painted Rocks, Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (see NHL list), Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Bautista Canyon Road, Mission San Gabriel Archangel, El Pueblo de Los Angeles,Chumash Indian Museum (north of Thousand Oaks), Santa Monica Mountains NRA, and El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historical Park.

California National Historic Trail, California, Nevada, Utah. Nevada sites in the map area include Humboldt Sink and Fernley Ruts on the Truckee Route and Fort Churchill (see NHL list) and Mormon Station on the Carson Route. California sites include Woodford’s Station, Hope Valley, and Carson Pass, all in the Toiyabe National Forest on the Carson Route; and Little Lost Canyon and Leavitt Meadow in Toiyabe National Forest and Browder Flat, Fremont Lake, Little Emigrant Valley, Hubbs Grave Site, Relief Camp, and Burst Rock in the Emigrant Wilderness along the Walker River-Sonora Route.

Old Spanish National Historic Trail, Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. This trading route connected Santa Fe and Los Angeles, opened in 1829. Sites include Church Rock, Navajo National Monument, and Antelope Canyon on Navajo Nation; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Paria Box area, Utah; Parowan Gap Petroglyphs, UT; Mountain Meadows, UT (see NHL list); Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona; Mojave Road in Mojave National Preserve, CA; and El Pueblo de Los Angeles, California.

Pony Express National Historic Trail, California, Nevada, and Utah. Sites include Boyd Station and Willow Springs Station in Utah; Cold Springs Station, Sand Springs Station, Fort Churchill (see NHL list), and Mormon Station in Nevada; and Woodford’s Station in California.

III.  Other Nationally Designated Sites

Cabrillo National Monument, California (site 53 on map). In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the first European to set foot on the west coast of the United States. Ecoregion NA1201.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah (site 54 on map). Rock art panels can be seen on canyon walls. Ecoregion NA1304

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Arizona (site 55 on map). Built 650 years ago, this four-story house rises from a six-foot high earthen platform. In addition to a residence, it was also used as an astronomical observatory. Site on the Anza National Historic Trail. Ecoregion N1310.

Coronado National Memorial, Arizona (site 15 on map).  Primarily a natural site, this commemorates the 1540-1542 expedition of Coronado in the western US.  Ecoregion NA302.

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona (site 56 on map). Contains the Nampaweap Petroglyph Site and Uinkaret Pueblo site. Ecoregion NA1304.

Ironwood Forest National Monument, Tucson BLM District, Arizona (site 57 on map). More than 200 Hohokam sites and rock art are found in this 125,000-acre area. Elevations here range from 1,800 to more than 4,200 feet. Historic areas include the Los Robles Archeological District, the Mission of Santa Ana del Chiquiburitac and the Cocoraque Butte Archeological District. Ecoregion NA1310.

Kitt Peak National Observatory and National Solar Observatory, Tohono O’Odham Nation (site 58 on map). The world’s largest collection of optical telescopes and radio telescopes operated by eight different groups affiliated with the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Ecoregion NA302.

Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona (site 59 on map). A well-preserved, five-story, 20-room ruin built 1125 to 1400. Ecoregion NA503.

Navajo National Monument, Navajo Nation (site 60 on map). Preserves the largest cliff dwellings in Arizona, dating to 1250. Ecoregion NA1304.

Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona (site 61 on map). A Mormon settlement dating to 1863. Ecoregion NA1304.

Saguaro National Park, Arizona (site 62 on map). Petroglyphs are present on Signal Hill (west unit of the park) and are a site on the Anza NHT.

Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, BLM Southern Nevada District (site 63 on map). The site contains 300 petroglyph panels. Ecoregion NA1308.

Tonto National Monument, Arizona (site 64 on map). Cliff dwellings were constructed 1300 to 1450 in large caves. Ecoregion NA503.

Tuzigoot National Monument, Arizona (site 65 on map). A hilltop pueblo occupied 1125 to 1450. Ecoregion NA503.

Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona (site 51 on map). A series of cliff dwellings built into overhangs along the canyon rim. Ecoregion NA503.

Wupatki National Monument, Arizona (site 66 on map). Hundreds of pueblo dwellings in a formerly productive farming region. Ecoregion NA1304.

IV.  Other Cultural Resource Sites

Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona (site 67 on map). An archaeological research and museum facility located in Texas Canyon, Little Dragoon Mountains. Ecoregion NA1303.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California. A site on the Anza Trail.  Ecoregion NA1310.

Anasazi State Park Museum, Boulder, Utah (site 68 on map). Occupied from 1050 to 1200 CE. Ecoregion NA1304.

Arroyo Seco Parkway, Los Angeles, California. The first urban freeway west of the Mississippi, constructed in 1940, is a historic civil engineering landmark. Ecoregion NA1201.

Bautista Canyon Road, San Bernardino National Forest, California (site 69 on map). Connects the town of Anza with Hemet; a site on the Anza Trail. Ecoregion NA1201.

Belmont Courthouse State Historic Park, Nevada (site 70 on map). From 1876 to 1905, this courthouse served Nye County, now abandoned. Ecoregion NA1305.

Biosphere 2, University of Arizona, Oracle, Arizona (site 71 on map). From 1991 to 1994, two experiments locked people inside this artificial ‘biosphere.’ It is now managed as a climate change research facility by the University of Arizona. Ecoregion NA1310.

Black Mountain Rock Art District, BLM Barstow District, California (site 72 on map). Up to 12,000 petroglyphs. Ecoregion NA1308.

Blythe Intaglios, BLM Yuma Field Office, California (site 73 on map). Six human figures and animal figures are depicted in geoglyphs. Ecoregion NA1310.

Buckhorn Wash Rock Art Panel, BLM Price Field Office, Utah (site 74 on map). Believed to be pictographs of shamans. Ecoregion NA1304.

Calico Early Man Site, BLM Barstow Field Office, California (site 75 on map). Ecoregion NA1308.

Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora (site 76 on map). The largest trincheras site (see overview above), with terraced hills dating to 1400 CE. Ecoregion NA1310.

Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Site, Santa Barbara, California. An overhand contains multicolored paintings and drawings. Ecoregion NA1203.

Col. Allensworth State Historical Park, Earlimart, California (site 78 on map). A farming community, founded in 1908 as a town financed and governed by African Americans. Ecoregion NA801.

Colorado River Aqueduct, Arizona-California. This second major water supply canal for southern California transports water from Lake Havasu to Lake Mathews near Corona, California. Constructed in the early 20^th century, this is a civil engineering landmark. Ecoregions NA1308 and 1201.

Cucurbe, Sonora (site 79 on map). A notable petroglyph site. Ecoregion NA1310.

Eldon Pueblo, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (site 26 on map). A Sinagua site occupied from 1070 to 1275. Ecoregion NA503.

Elgin Schoolhouse State Historic Site, Nevada (site 80 on map). Served as a school from 1922 through 1967. Ecoregion NA1305.

Los Encinos State Historical Park, Los Angeles, California. A natural spring and adobe ranch house for Basque immigrant landowners and sheep ranchers. Ecoregion NA 1201.

Fisherman Intaglio, BLM Yuma Field Office, Arizona (site 81 on map). A geoglyph in the Arizona desert. Ecoregion NA1310.

Fort Pearce, BLM St. George Field Office, Utah (site 82 on map). A fort built 1866 and petroglyphs in the area. Ecoregion NA1308.

Fort Tehon State Historical Park, Lebec, California (site 83 on map). Constructed 1854 to protect and control the Sebastian Indian Reservation. Ecoregion NA1203.

Fort Verde State Historic Park, Camp Verde, Arizona (site 84 on map). The site of the military campaign against the Apache in the 1870s. Ecoregion NA503.

Fremont Indian State Park, Utah (site 85 on map). Several panels of rock art are preserved; this site was discovered during the construction of I-70. Ecoregion NA530.

Frontier Homestead State Park Museum, Cedar City, Utah (site 86 on map). Commemorates an iron-mining area in the 1850s. Ecoregion NA1305.

Grimes Point Archaeological Area, BLM Carson City District (site 87 on map). A trail winds among petroglyphs. Ecoregion NA1305.

Guadalupe Valley Wine Region, Baja California (site 88 on map). One of Mexico’s wine-producing areas to the north of Ensenada. Ecoregion NA1201.

Hidden Cave Archaeological Area, BLM Carson City District (site 87 on map). Hidden Cave was used as a stockpile for food about 4,000 years ago by early human inhabitants. Ecoregion NA1305.

Homolovi State Park, Arizona (site 89 on map). This is a center for archaeology research from the 1200s to 1300s. The Hopi consider this to be an ancestral village.

Honanki Ruin, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (site 90 on map). Preserves cliff dwellings and rock art. Ecoregion NA503.

Ivanpah Dry Lake, California (site 91 on map). The world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle was set here in 2009. Ecoregion NA1308.

Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Site, Las Vegas, Nevada. Established 1855.

Little Black Mountain Petroglyph Site, BLM Arizona Strip Field Office (site 92 on map). South of St. George, Utah, is this site with 500 petroglyphs. Ecoregion NA1308.

Los Angeles Aqueduct, California. Tapping water near Mono Lake and built from 1907 to 1913, this aqueduct system of storage reservoirs, canals, and tunnels allows water to flow downhill to southern California. A historic civil engineering landmark. Ecoregions NA527, 1310, 1203, and 1201.

Lovelock Cave, BLM Winnemucca District, Nevada (site 26 on map). Artifacts include elaborate mats and duck decoys up to 2,000 years old. Ecoregion NA1305.

Marlette Lake Water System, Nevada (site 32 on map). Tapping water in the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, this water system was constructed to provide water to Virginia City. Ecoregion NA527 and NA1305.

McFarland State Historic Park, Florence, Arizona (site 93 on map). An 1878 adobe brick building, used as a courthouse.

Mission San Gabriel Archangel, San Gabriel, California (site 94 on map). An 1806 church and site on Anza Trail.

Mormon Station State Historic Park, Nevada (site 95 on map). Established 1851, this is Nevada’s first permanent non-Indian settlement and a site along the California and Pony Express trails.

Mount Wilson Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Angeles National Forest, California (site 17 on map). Founded 1904 by George Hale, a historic 60-inch telescope and modern upgrades overlook Pasadena. In 1908, Hale detected the existence of magnetic fields inside sunspots. Ecoregion NA1203.

Navajo Bridge Pedestrian Bridge, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Navajo Nation (site 96 on map). When it was constructed in 1929, this was the highest steel arch bridge in America. It was replaced by a new bridge just downstream in 1995. Ecoregion NA1304.

Nine Mile Canyon Archaeological District, BLM Price Field Office, Utah (site 97 on map). One of the world’s highest densities of prehistoric rock art. Ecoregion NA1304.

Painted Cave, Tule River Tribal Lands (site 98 on map). Rock art pictographs painted in white, yellow, and black pigments are in a rockshelter associated with a village site. A Bigfoot pictograph is often cited by Bigfoot hunters as evidence. Ecoregion NA527 and 1202.

Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, BLM Lower Sonoran Field Office, Arizona (site 99 on map). Hundreds of petroglyphs may be viewed at this site off I-8. Ecoregion NA1310.

Palatki Heritage Site, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (site 90 on map). Preserves cliff dwellings and rock art. Ecoregion NA503.

Palomar Observatory, Cleveland National Forest, California (site 34 on map). Five telescopes are operated by the California Institute of Technology. Ecoregion NA1201.

Parowan Gap, BLM, UT (site 100 on map). Petroglyph site. Ecoregion NA1305.

Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. A military outpost built by the Spanish dates from 1782, a site on the Anza Trail.

Pueblo de Los Angeles. Western terminus of the Old Spanish Trail, a site on the Anza Trail, and a center of the old Spanish settlement.

Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, Flagstaff (site 26 on map). Built 1904, the mansion is considered to be a remarkable example of Arts and Crafts style architecture featuring a rustic exterior of log-slab siding, volcanic stone arches, and hand-split wooden shingles.

Rogers, Will, State Historic Park, Pacific Palisades (site 11 on map). Preserves the humorist’s house, horse riding facilities, Ecoregion NA1201.

Salt River Project and Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Arizona (site 64 on map). Constructed beginning 1911, the seven dams and reservoirs on the Salt and Verde Rivers provide water for Arizona. A historic civil engineering landmark. Ecoregion NA503 and 1310.

Sand Mountain Recreation Area, BLM Carson City District, Nevada (site 101 on map). Contains the Sand Springs Pony Express Station. Ecoregion NA1305.

Santo Tomas Valley, Baja California (site 102 on map). One of Mexico’s wine-producing regions to the south of Ensenada. Ecoregion NA 1201.

Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, Chatsworth, California (site 103 on map). Site of the original stagecoach trail between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ecoregion NA1203.

Sears Point Petroglyph Site, BLM Yuma Field Office, Arizona (site 104 on map). Ecoregion NA1310.

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, Nevada (site 105 on map). Developed as a working ranch and luxury retreat. Part of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Ecoregion NA1308.

Sweetwater Dam, San Diego, California (site 3 on map). Constructed in 1917, this was once the tallest masonry arch dam. A historic civil engineering landmark. Ecoregion NA12101.

Tehachapi Pass Railroad, California (site 106 on map). In 1876, this railroad with a loop to gain elevation was constructed by hand and is still in use. It is considered one of the great feats of railroad engineering. Ecoregion NA1203.

Territorial Statehouse State Park Museum, Fillmore, Utah (site 107 on map). Built 1855 for a meeting of the territorial legislature, which promptly moved to Salt Lake City.

Topock Maze, BLM California Desert District, Needles, California (site 108 on map). Originally about 50 acres, this 600-year old geoglyph has been reduced in size by railroad and highway construction. A field appears to have been plowed or furrowed in a mazelike fashion. Ecoregion NA1308.

Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Arizona (site 29 on map). A small Pima village became a mission farm, then a military installation in New Spain. Juan Bautista de Anza, commander of the presidio, led expeditions to San Francisco from this spot. Ecoreigon NA1310.

V Bar V Heritage Site, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (site 59 on map). Preserves rock art. Ecoregion NA503.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada (site 109 on map). Contains rock art throughout the park. Ecoregion NA1308.

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, Nevada (site 110 on map). Six charcoal ovens. Ecoregion NA1305.

Whipple, Fred Lawrence, Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Coronado National Forest, Arizona (site 111 on map). Telescopes for optical and gamma ray astronomy. Ecoregion NA302.

Willow Springs Pony Express Station, Callao, Utah (site 112 on map). One of the best preserved stations, located on private land. Ecoregion NA1305.

Wolverton Historic Mill, BLM Henry Mountain Field Station, Hanksville, UT (site 113 on map). The mill was built to process mineral ores and as a sawmill. Ecoregion NA1304.

Woodford’s Station, Toiyabe National Forest, California (site 114 on map). This was a site on the Carson Route of the California Trail and a Pony Express station.

Yuha Desert, California (site 115 on map). Site of a large, abstract geoglyph. Ecoregion NA1310.

Aqueducts, Balboa, and Calico

A. Map boundaries: 30 to 40 degrees North; 110 to 120 degrees West

B. Countries (States): Mexico (Baja California, Sonora), United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah).

C. Part II, The Cultural Landscape Expanded

This section provides an overview of National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) and other notable historic properties in the desert southwest. Part III contains a detailed listing of all sites.

The Prehistoric Landscape

Perhaps the most controversial of the sites is the Calico Early Man Site in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. It was made famous by Louis S.B.Leakey, the Kenyan anthropologist who discovered much evidence of early man in Africa. From 1964 until 1972, Leakey promoted the idea that the artifacts found in the American desert were similar to artifacts found in Africa. Leakey excavated an alluvial fan and considered the artifacts found to be the result of human activity. The age of the fan was believed to be over 50,000 years old (Leakey, Simpson, and Clements 1968). Today most professionally trained archaeologists question whether the alleged stone tools were manufactured by humans. However, Friends of Calico Early Man Site continues the tradition of investigating the site for evidence of early man (site 75 on map).

The prehistoric inhabitants of the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts left behind abundant archaeological evidence of their presence. Canals, trincheras sites, and rock art are three of the more notable cultural landscapes in the region. At the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park in Phoenix, the largest canals known from pre-Columbian North America are preserved. Modern irrigated agriculture and suburban development has largely obliterated these canal systems. However, approximately 500 km of major canals and 1600 km of smaller canals have been recorded in the Salt River Valley. These canals were largely built between 900 and 1450 CE. The extensive canal system would easily have diverted all of the available Salt River water during dry periods, suggesting that some sort of coordination or control was necessary to allocate the water among all the systems in the Salt River Valley (Masse 1981).

Trincheras sites are distinguished by their locations on a hill or mountain peak and the use of massive stone terraces or walls. At the Cerro de Trincheras site in Sonora (site 76 on map), 900 massive stone-walled terraces cover the entire north side of a hill. There was a plaza on the summit and a public events area on the lower slope. Another notable trincheras site is Cerro Prieto 35 miles northwest of Tucson. Numerous small trincheras sites dot Sonora and southern Arizona. Desert Laboratory of the University of Arizona (see site 9 on map) is built on a trincheras site.

At the Coso Mountains in California, Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons (site 4 on map) contain the most spectacular petroglyph areas in the western US, with 20,000 designs showing bighorn sheep, deer, antelope. Along the canyon walls are anthropomorphic figures showing dogs attacking sheep and people hunting sheep. Piled rock statues are ‘dummy hunters’ of bighorn sheep. Another premier rock art site is Nine Mile Canyon in Utah. This canyon holds at least 10,000 images. Recently, heavy truck traffic through a dirt road in the canyon caused concerns about damage to the rock art panels. Of special concern was the use of magnesium chloride to suppress dust. This salt may corrode the rock and damage the paintings, according to art conservators (Kloor 2008).

The Emigrant Landscape

Sites important to the emigrant experience during the 1840s through the 1870s are common in this map area. Notable NHLs are the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (site 52), Mountain Meadows Massacre Site in Dixie National Forest (site 31), Warner Springs Ranch in southern California (site 50), and Walker Pass (site 49), providing a way between the California Desert and the Central Valley. The Oak Grove Butterfield Stage Station in southern California (site 34) is also a NHL. Further north are sites on the California Trail and Pony Express Trail such as Fort Churchill (site 14) and Carson Pass. Early mining towns such as Virginia City (site 48) and Bodie (site 5) are well-preserved, and perhaps most famous of all, Tombstone (site 45) is the best-preserved frontier town, located in southeastern Arizona. Early Spanish settlement is commemorated through the system of missions in Arizona and California, as well as Mexican adobe houses and ranches dating from the early 1800s.

The Tourism Landscape

Sites at Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite have been designated as National Historic Landmarks because of the distinctive “‘national park rustic resort style.” Facilities at Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon were constructed by railroads. Grand Canyon Village was the largest town developed by the National Park Service to meet thee needs of visitors and park staff. The visitor center at Tucumcori National Monument (site 29) was built in mission revival architecture to serve as an interpretive device. Balboa City Park in San Diego was constructed for the 1915 Panama-Canal Exposition and includes Spanish baroque architecture. Today it is the center of the city’s museum district. Nearby Mission Beach Roller Coaster was listed as an early 20^th century recreational development, as was the Loof Hippodrome and carousel at the Santa Monica Pier (site 11). The Hotel del Coronado near San Diego (site 8) is considered to be the most architecturally interesting luxury hotel in the U.S., and Mission Inn in Riverside (site 20) is another late 19^th century luxury hotel listed as a NHL.

The Science and Technology Landscape

Three nineteenth century sites important to the science of plant ecology are on the NHL list in Arizona. The C. Hart Merriam Base Camp on the Coconino National Forest (site 28) was where the Life Zone Concept was formulated. The Desert Botanical Laboratory west of Tucson (site 9) was where the science of plant ecology was born. At the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff (site 26), the science of dendrochronology was born.

Sites important to astronomy are on the NHL list in Pasadena. These include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its on-site space simulator and the houses of some of America’s greatest astronomers, Edwin Hubble and Ellery Hale (site 17). Nearby, overlooking Pasadena, is the Mount Wilson Observatory. Also important in the unmanned exploration of space was the Pioneer Deep Space Station antenna in the California Desert (site 37). The Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base (site 38) has been used for aircraft flight testing since 1933 and was a landing spot for the Space Shuttle. Aircraft first broke the sound barrier here. Other important astronomical discoveries were made at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, where it was determined that the universe continues to expand. The tops of mountains in the sky islands of Arizona and southern California continue to attract astronomical observatories. Notable current facilities are Kitt Peak (site 58) and Whipple (site 111) Observatories in Arizona and Mount Wilson and Palomar (site 34) in California.

Large government-sponsored water works have been essential to the development and growth of the desert regions. Historic civil engineering landmarks highlight some of these facilities. The Los Angeles Aqueduct, which carries water from northern California near Mono Lake, and the Colorado River Aqueduct, which carries water from the east, are landmarks, as is the Salt River Project supplying water to central Arizona. No list of water infrastructure would be complete without including the Hoover Dam (site 22), one of the greatest achievements in hydraulic engineering.

D. Terrestrial Ecoregions

Ecoregions of the Neararctic Biome

Tropical & Subtropical Coniferous Forests

NA 302, Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests. These forests occur as isolated sky islands on mountain peaks between 1500 and 3,300 m in elevation. Drier areas have chaparral and oak-grassland vegetation. The region is known for endemic birds such as the thick-billed parrot, tufted jay, eared quetzal, and green-striped brush finch; 22 endemic reptiles; and 12 endemic amphibians. The mountain air currents are a major migratory pathway for the monarch butterfly. Found in Arizona and Sonora.

Temperate Coniferous Forests

NA 503, Arizona Mountains forests. Ponderosa pine forests predominate in open park-like areas. Above 2000 m are Douglas-fir and spruce. Found in Arizona.

NA515, Great Basin montane forests. At high elevations, forests of white fir, limber pine, and bristlecone pine are found at timberline. Found in California and Nevada.

NA526, Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests. Two mountain ranges support pine and fir forests in a Mediterranean climate regime of winter rains. There are ten species of pine. Found in Baja California.

NA527, Sierra Nevada forests. The most diverse temperate coniferous forests on Earth support numerous species of pine and 75 giant sequoia groves. Found in California and Nevada.

NA530, Wasatch and Uinta montane forests. Ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, and Gambel oak are found in sparse, arid forests on Utah mountaintops. The southernmost extensions of this area shown on the map tend to be high plateaus. Found in Utah.

Temperate Grasslands, Savannas and Shrublands

NA801, California Central Valley grasslands. Perennial bunchgrass ecosystem and oak-grass savanna grade into desert grasslands in the south. Extensive mass flowerings of California poppy and other wildflowers are characteristic. Vernal pools are found in flooded depressions. Found in California.

Mediterranean Forests, Woodland, and Scrub

NA 1201, California coastal sage and chaparral. The fire-adapted coastal sage and chaparral plants are interspersed with oak woodlands. Higher elevations support pine forests. Found in Baja California and California.

NA 1202, California interior chaparral and woodlands. A zone of oak woodland and chaparral rings the Central Valley grasslands. Found in California.

NA1203, California montane chaparral and woodlands. The southern extension of the Sierra Nevada and the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles basin have plant communities consisting of chaparral, pinyon-juniper, oak woodlands, and pine forests. Found in California.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

NA 1301, Baja California desert. The mountains, plains, and dunes host xeric scrub of cacti, Ambrosia, and Erodium. In low humid areas epiphytes are present. Endemic mammals include the San Quintin kangaroo rat and Baja California rock squirrel. Found on the western side of the Baja California peninsula in Baja California.

NA 1303, Chihuahuan desert. This isolated desert and grassland is known for prairie dog, bison, and antelope. The dominant plant is creosote bush, along with tarbush and acacia. There are up to 1,000 endemic plant species, including one-fifth of the world’s cacti. Found in deep valleys reaching into the mountains of eastern Sonora and southeastern Arizona.

NA 1304, Colorado Plateau shrublands. Characterized by extensive and sparse pinyon pine and juniper woodlands. Found in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

NA1305, Great Basin shrub steppe. Characterized by sagebrush, saltbush and winterfat. Called a shrub steppe because of the absence of grasses. Found in California, Nevada, and Utah.

NA1308, Mojave Desert. Characterized by creosote bush and Joshua trees. Found in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.

NA 1310, Sonoran Desert. The desert most famous for the saguaro cactus also contains creosote bush, ironwood, palo verde and other cacti in drier areas. Found in Arizona, Baja California, California, and Sonora.

E. World Heritage Sites

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Terrestrial ecoregions NA503 and NA1304. The Tusayan ruin, including a small pueblo site, is on the South Rim. National Historic Landmarks include the four Mary Jane Colter Buildings, Grand Canyon Depot, Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park Operations Building, Grand Canyon Power House, Grand Canyon Village, and El Tovar Hotel (site 7 on map).

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (IPAGC). This includes nine protected area units, two of which are within the map area. The two units shown on the map are:

• Islands of the Gulf of California Flora and Fauna Reserve (IGCFFR), Baja California and Sonora. This includes 232 islands, nine of which fall within the map area. Terrestrial ecoregion NA 1310; marine ecoregion 60.




• Upper Gulf of California and Colorado Delta Biosphere Reserve, Baja California and Sonora. Includes the former outlet of the Colorado River. Terrestrial ecoregion NA1310; marine ecoregion 60.

Yosemite National Park, California. The Ahwahnee Resort Hotel, Leconte Lodge, and Ranger’s Club in Yosemite Valley, the Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio in Wawona, and Parsons Memorial Lodge in Tuolumne Meadows are National Historic Landmarks (site 1 on map). Ecoregion NA527.

F. Further Reading

Durham, Michael S. 1990. The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Desert States. Stewart, Tabori and Chang, New York.

Garfinkel, Alan P. 2006. Paradigm Shifts, Rock Art Studies, and the “Coso Sheep Cult” of Eastern California. North American Archaeologist 27:203-244.

Kloor, Keith. 2008. Dust Storm Rising Over Threat to Famed Rock Art in Utah. Science 319:394.

Leakey, L.S.B., Ruth de Ette Simpson, and Thomas Clements. 1968. Archaeological Excavations in the Calico Mountains, California: Preliminary Report. Science 160:1022-1023.

Logan, William Bryant and Susan Ochshorn. 1989. The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Pacific States. Stewart, Tabori and Chang, New York.

Masse, W. Bruce. 1981. Prehistoric Irrigation Systems in the Salt River Valley, Arizona. Science 214:408-415.

Noble, John et al. 2010. Mexico. Lonely Planet Publications.

Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. http://phoenix.gov/recreation/arts/museums/pueblo/index.html (accessed October 29, 2011).

UNESCO-Man and the Biosphere Reserves Directory. http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/database.asp (accessed 5/30/11).

Warner Springs Ranch. http://www.warnersprings.com/history.cfm (accessed 11/1/11)

World Heritage List. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list (accessed 5/22/11).

Coso, Pueblo Grande, and Trincheras part 1

Map boundaries: 30 to 40 degrees North; 110 to 120 degrees West

Country (State): Mexico (Baja California, Sonora), United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah).

Part I of the Cultural Landscape

The prehistoric inhabitants of the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts left behind abundant archaeological evidence of their presence. Canals, trincheras sites, and rock art are three of the more notable cultural landscapes in the region.

At the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park in Phoenix, the largest canals known from pre-Columbian North America are preserved. Modern irrigated agriculture and suburban development has largely obliterated these canal systems. However, approximately 500 km of major canals and 1600 km of smaller canals have been recorded in the Salt River Valley. These canals were largely built between 900 and 1450 CE. The extensive canal system would easily have diverted all of the available Salt River water during dry periods, suggesting that some sort of coordination or control was necessary to allocate the water among all the systems in the Salt River Valley.

Trincheras sites are distinguished by their locations on a hill or mountain peak and the use of massive stone terraces or walls. At the Cerro de Trincheras site in Sonora, 900 massive stone-walled terraces cover the entire north side of a hill. There was a plaza on the summit and a public events area on the lower slope. Another notable trincheras site is Cerro Prieto 35 miles northwest of Tucson. Numerous small trincheras sites dot Sonora and southern Arizona.

At the Coso Mountains in California, Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons contain the most spectacular petroglyph areas in the western US, with 20,000 designs showing bighorn sheep, deer, antelope. Along the canyon walls are anthropomorphic figures showing dogs attacking sheep and people hunting sheep. Piled rock statues are ‘dummy hunters’ of bighorn sheep.

(to be continued next month)

Ecoregions of the Neararctic Biome in the map area:

302, Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests

503, Arizona Mountains forests

515, Great Basin montane forests

526, Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests

527, Sierra Nevada forests

530, Wasatch and Uinta montane forests

1201, California coastal sage and chaparral

1202, California interior chaparral and woodlands

1203, California montane chaparral and woodlands

1301, Baja California desert

1303, Chihuahuan desert

1304, Colorado Plateau shrublands

1305, Great Basin shrub steppe

1308, Mojave Desesrt

1310, Sonoran Desert

World Heritage Sites

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Terrestrial ecoregions NA503 and NA1304.

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (IPAGC). This includes nine protected area units, two of which are within the map area. The two units shown on the map are:

• Islands of the Gulf of California Flora and Fauna Reserve (IGCFFR), Baja California and Sonora. This includes 232 islands, nine of which fall within the map area. Terrestrial ecoregion NA 1310; marine ecoregion 60.
• Upper Gulf of California and Colorado Delta Biosphere Reserve, Baja California and Sonora. Includes the former outlet off the Colorado River. Terrestrial ecoregion NA1310; marine ecoregion 60.

Yosemite National Park, California. The Ahwahnee resort hotel, Leconte Lodge, and Ranger’s Club in Yosemite Valley and the Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio in Wawona are National Historic Landmarks. Ecoregion NA527.

Fang, Mei, and Shennongjia

Part II of Warm Temperate China

I. Map Focus Area: 30 to 40 degrees North; 110 to 120 degrees East

II. Countries (Provinces or Districts): China (Anhui, Beijing Municipality, Chongqing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Tianjin Municipality, and Zhejiang).

III. Overview of the Paleontological Landscape

Prior to the dinosaur extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65 million years ago, there was an even larger mass extinction, at the end of the Permian Period. The best uninterrupted Permian-Triassic marine interval found in the world is at Mei Mountain, just west of Tai Lake in Zhejiang province. This extinction event eliminated 50 percent of marine families, 96 percent of marine invertebrates, and decreased terrestrial reptilian faunas. It was originally thought that the extinction event might be related to volcanism at the Siberian traps to the north of China (Clark et al. 1986; Reme et al. 1995). However, the end-Permian boundary sediments at Meishan have metallic grains condensed from an impact-generated vapor cloud. These grains are present from the South Pole to the Equator, where China was located at the time. Thus, there is evidence that the two largest extinctions, Cretaceous-Tertiary and Permian-Triassic, were caused by catastrophic impacts (Basu et al. 2003). Dating of ash beds at Mei Mountain have provided a precise date of 252.6 million years ago for the mass extinction (Mundil et al. 2004).

The beginning of the age of dinosaurs, the Triassic period, is evident at Majia Mountain north of Chao Lake in Anhui. Here is the mother lode of fossils from marine reptiles—icthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. Icthyosaurs and pleiosaurs were warm-blooded, while mosasaurs were cold-blooded (Stone 2010).

In 1993, floodwaters in the Xixia County area of southwestern Henan uncovered thousands of dinosaur eggs which were laid during the Cretaceous (Flam 1993). Some eggs were up to 16 inches long (Holden 1993). Today fossil eggs may be viewed at the Xixia Dinosaur Remains Park and Museum, which features a tunnel into the hillside to expose eggs which may be viewed embedded in the ceiling (Hone 2009). Many of the eggs contain embryos, which have been analyzed for developmental age. Most of the embryos were at least two-thirds of the way through development at the time they were fossilized. It is likely that the babies came out the eggs able to chase down prey and consume suitable plants (Pennisi 2004).

At Zhucheng Dinosaur Geopark in Shandong, a large and rich fossil area for large dinosaurs has been found. Specimens of duck-billed, horned, and tyrannosaurs are evident. Zhucheng is now called the Chinese ‘dinosaur city’ (Branigan 2011).

At Shanwang National Geology Park in Shandong, sedimentary rocks provide fossil evidence of 500 species, including plants, insects, fish, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. It is believed to be the world’s richest Miocene Epoch fossil locality and has been preserved as a park. The Shanwang Fossil Museum preserves 10,000 specimens.

In southern Jiangsu province, fissures in limestone at Shanghuang have provided fossils of middle Miocene mammals in addition to early primates (Rossie Xijun and Beard 2006). The small primate Eosimias is believed to bridge the gap between the lower primates and higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans. Other Eosimias fossils have been found at Yuangqu on the Yellow River in Shanxi province (Beard et al. 1996).

The fossils of Peking Man, now known as Homo erectus, were found in 1929 at Zoukoudian, a World Heritage Site 50 km southwest of Beijing. The cave-riddled hills yielded 200 bones before 1937, in strata that are 680,000 to 780,000 years old (Stone 2009). There is some evidence that bones were burned, although it is disputed whether the inhabitants were intentionally using fire (Wu 1999). The fossils and artifacts such as rudimentary tools vanished following the Japanese invasion in 1937.

The focus area is the home of ginkgo trees, the preeminent living fossil. Distinctive ginkgo leaves are common fossils in sediments of Jurassic and Cretaceous age. Living trees have been cultivated in China since at least 1100 CE, and botanists dispute whether the Chinese populations are wild populations. One possibly wild population in the focus area is at Tianmu Biosphere Reserve on the border between Anhui and Zhejiang. Another possibly wild population is at Shennongjia Biosphere Reserve in Hubei.

IV. Overview of the Natural Landscape

The focus area between 30 and 40 degrees latitude makes the transition between warm temperate evergreen forests in the south and dry grasslands in the northwest. The dense human population has impacted this landscape for thousands of years, but many valuable near-natural landscapes remain. China has embraced the geopark concept and has established reserves in mountainous areas. The Fang Mountain Geopark consists of eight units in Beijing Municipality and Hebei, including the Zhoukoudian World Heritage Site, caves and gorges. Funiu Mountain Geopark is the transition between temperate deciduous and evergreen broadleaf forests. Other geoparks are in Anhui, Henan and Shandong. Mountain nature reserves across warm temperate China are important bird areas for pheasants and pittas. Saline meadows along the coast and freshwater wetlands along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers provide habitat for waterbirds such as the red-crowned crane, geese, and shorebirds. Biosphere reserves at Funiu (Baotianman) Shennongjia, and Tianmu protect rare plants and birds in mountain settings.

V. Overview of Environmental Issues

Perhaps the most well-known infrastructure project is the Three Gorges Dam, which impounds the Yangtze River in Hubei and is now the world’s largest hydropower project, with a reservoir surface area of 1080 square km. The Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam were a barrier to the Yangtze finless porpoise, Chinese river dolphin, and Chinese paddlefish, the latter two of which are now believed to be extinct. The Yangtze soft shell turtle is extinct in the wild. The last paddlefish was caught in 2003 and the last sighting of the river dolphin was in 2004 Stone 2011a). Reservoir issues include algae blooms, sedimentation, and schistosomiasis or snail fever. China is embarking on an ambitious project to improve water quality (Stone 2011b).

Water from the reservoir may eventually be linked to another large infrastructure project, the South to North Water Transfer Project. The eastern and central routes will traverse the map focus area. The eastern route is 1150 km long, has 23 pumping stations, and follows the general path of the Grand Canal, which is being widened and deepened. The diversion is at Yangzhou on the Yangtze River. The flow will pass under the Yellow River in a tunnel. The diversion represents a five percent reduction in Yangtze River flow (Stone and Jia 2006). The eastern route has been slowed by the need to clean up water before it is diverted north (Hao 2007). The central route currently begins at the Danjiankou Dam on the Han River in Hubei and will traverse north for 1,000 km through Henan and Hebei to Beijing. The central route will require 1,774 structures to channel the water through Henan and Hebei. Approximately 16 percent of the Han River flow is to be diverted. A southern extension will extend to the Yangtze River below Three Gorges Dam (Stone and Jia 2006, Wong 2011).

The South to North project is intended to address the severe water shortages which exist in the North China Plain, an area encompassing the Beijing and Tianjin municipalities. The rapid growth of the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, together with agricultural irrigation through intensive groundwater pumping in the Hai River basin, has led to water shortages (Li 2010, Wong 2011).

During the past three decades, Tai Lake in the southeastern portion of the focus area has become famous for its pollution, especially for its blue-green algae blooms. During the summer the shallow lake turns pea green. The blue-green algae thrive on a mix of industrial, farm, and municipal effluent. Since a disastrous bloom in 2007, hundreds of small chemical and manufacturing plants have been forced to relocate, and strict effluent controls were instituted (Stone 2011c). The goal is to restore the fisheries in the lake as well as the suitability for a drinking water source (Hao and Stone 2010).

In the Yellow River valley of Shandong, one fifth of China’s wheat and a smaller percentage of its corn are produced (Postel 2006). High nitrogen fertilizer input and low-nitrogen use efficiency have resulted in soil acidification (Guo et al. 2010).

VI. Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Paleoarctic (PA) Biome

Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests of the Paleoarctic Biome

PA 101. Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests. This cool, cloudy realm of limestone pinnacles is dominated by plants in the oak, laurel, and tea families. Other common plants include hemlock, maple, rhododendron, Prunus and fir. Animals include macaques, monkeys, tigers, Sika deer, and leopards. Found in Chongqing Municipality, Hubei, and Hunan on the map.

Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests

PA 411. Central China loess plateau mixed forest. This ecoregion developed on wind-blown loess 200 m thick and is a transition from the deciduous temperate forests to the steppes and deserts to the north and west. The forest is a mixed broadleaf deciduous forest of oak, birch, maple, and linden. Found in Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi in the map focus area.

PA 415. Changjiang Plain evergreen forests. The broad Yangtze or Chang Jiang (Long River) valley downstream of the Three Gorges originally contained native evergreen oak and laurel forests. Found in Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang within the map focus area.

PA 417. Daba Mountains evergreen forests. Mixed evergreen oaks and tree mints, along with pines are common. Shennongjia in western Hubei has old growth forests. It is known for the rare Davidia tree. Found in Chongqing Municipality, Hubei, and Shaanxi in the map focus area.

PA 424. Huang He Plain mixed forests. This mostly deciduous forest area is characterized by oak, elm, pistachio, and pines. Found in Anhui, Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Tianjin Municipality in the map focus area.

PA 430. Northeast China Plain deciduous forests. Deciduous forests found here are a mixture of hardwoods and conifers, including oaks,maples, elm, ash, and pine. Found in Liaoning in the northeastern corner of the map area.

PA 434. Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests. Found in Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi in the map area. A biologically rich deciduous forest of oak, elm, walnut, maple, and pines. To the west of the map area are panda preserves. Found in Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi in the focus area.

Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands

PA 813. Mongolian-Manchurian grassland. Flat to rolling grasslands provide habitat for wild ungulates and are used for sheep and goat grazing. Found in Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi in the map focus area.

Flooded Grasslands and Savannas

PA 902. Bohai Sea saline meadow. Made of sediments in the Yellow and Luan River Deltas, these areas are dominated by goosefoot and grasses. They are mostly used for rice and aquaculture, with natural areas providing habitat for Saunders gull and red-crowned crane. Found in Hebei, Shandong, and Tianjin Municipality in the map area.

PA 908. Yellow Sea saline meadow. The delta of the Huai River consists of saline meadows dominated by goosefoot and grasslands. About 40 percent of the wild population of red-crowned crane winters here. Some areas are used for shrimp aquaculture. Found in Jiangsu in the map area.

Montane Grasslands and Shrublands

PA 1013, Ordos Plateau Steppe. Scrub vegetation with some desertification from heavy grazing. Found in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi in the map area.

VII. Freshwater Ecoregions

Northern Asia Region, Temperate Floodplain Rivers and Wetlands

635. Huang He Great Bend. Includes Inner Mongolia province on map.

636. Lower Huang He. Includes Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces on map.

Southern Asia Region, Temperate Floodplain Rivers and Wetlands

766. Lower Yangtze. The Yangtze and tributaries upriver to Three Gorges, including Huai River, Weishan Lake, and Dan River drainages. Includes Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and provinces on map. The Yangtze has 378 fish species, including 162 that are endemic (Stone 2011a).

Southern Asia Region, Temperate Upland Rivers

765. Middle Yangtze. Includes Three Gorges area of Chongqing Municipality and western Hubei province on map.

VIII. Marine Ecoregions

Temperate Northern Pacific Realm, Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific Province

50. Yellow Sea. Includes Yellow Sea and Bo Gulf on map.

IX. World Heritage Sites (see Part I for more cultural sites)

Huang (Yellow) Mountain, Anhui. Renowned for its magnificent scenery, Huang Mountain inspired art and literature throughout Chinese history. Scenery includes rocky peaks, forests of stone pillars, and waterfalls, all in a densely forested landscape of evergreen moist forest below 1,100 m and deciduous forest from 1100 to 1800 m. Huang is also in the world network of geoparks for its natural landscape and is an Important Bird Area for greater spotted eagle and brown-chested jungle flycatcher. Ecoregion 415.

Song Mountain, Henan. The central Taoist sacred mountain of China is associated with the concept of the center of heaven and earth, The site consists of eight units containing temples, pagodas, an academy, and an observatory. Cypress trees on the site are believed to be 4500 years old. Song Mountain is in the world network of Geoparks. Ecoregion PA424.

Great Wall, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. The world’s largest military structure was built from 220 BC to 1600 AD and served a single strategic purpose for 2,000 years. Part of the Fang Mountain Geopark in Hebei. Ecoregions 411, 813, and 1013.

Tai Mountain (East Great Mountain), Shandong. Considered a birthplace of Chinese civilization, ancient temples built over 2,000 years and dense forests dot this mountain cultural landscape. Tai Mountain is also in the world network of geoparks for its early Precambrian trilobite fossils. Ecoregion PA 424.

Zhoukoudian, Beijing Municipality. The fossils of Peking Man, now known as Homo erectus, were found in 1929 at this site 50 km southwest of Beijing. The cave-riddled hills yielded 200 bones before 1937, in strata that are 680,000 to 780,000 years old (Stone 2009). There is some evidence that bones were burned, although it is disputed whether the inhabitants were intentionally using fire (Wu 1999). The fossils and artifacts such as rudimentary tools vanished following the Japanese invasion in 1937. Ecoregions 411 and 424.

X. Ramsar Sites

Yancheng National Nature Reserve, Jiangsu. Also a Biosphere Reserve. At least one-half of the world’s population of red-crowned crane uses the grass and sedge marshes and wetlands of this vast coastal wetland. The nature reserve also provides habitat for Oriental white stork, swan goose, Baikel teal, white-naped crane, Dalmatian pelican, Baer’s pochard, Saunder’s gull, Pere David’s deer, and black-faced spoonbill. Ecoregion PA 908.

XI. Man and the Biosphere Reserves

Baotianman, Henan. This area contains mixed deciduous and evergreen conifer forest with oaks, poplars, and Rhododendron. It is known for medicinial plant and tea from native plants. The biosphere reserve is part of the Funiu Mountain geopark. Ecoregion PA434.

Shennongjia, Hubei. This mixed deciduous-evergreen forest contains oaks, conifers, and bamoo forests interspersed with agriculture and tea plantations. There are 2,762 species of plants. The medicinal species provide the nickname of ‘Natural Medicinal Park.’ It also preserves habitat for the golden monkey and is an Important Bird Area for Reeve’s pheasant and white-eared night heron. Ecoregion PA417.

Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang. This mixed forest of evergreen and deciduous trees protects 35 species of rare plants including Katsura, Chinese tulip, Yulan magnolia, cycads, and Liriodendron. Ancient pines and the cloud leopard are found here. It is an Important Bird Area for Elliot’s pheasant and fairy pitta. Tianmu is also known as the home of ginkgo trees. Ecoregion PA 415.

Yancheng. See description under Ramsar sites above.

XII. Global Network of Geoparks

Fang Mountain, Beijing Municipality and Hebei. This geopark includes eight sites south of Beijing that are paleontological and karst landform sites in Ecoregion PA411. In the Fanshan District are

(1) Zhoukoudian (see World Heritage Sites)

(2) Shihua (Stone Flower) Cave

(3) Shi Du (Ten Ferries) Scenic Area

(4) Shangfang Mountain Scenic Area

(5) Shenglian Mountain Scenic Area

To the West of Beijing is

(6) Baihua Mountain Natural Scenic Area, famous for flowers. Baihua Mountain is also an Important Bird Area for grey-sided thrush.

To the southwest in Hebei is

(7) Yesanpo Baili Canyon, consisting of three deep canyons

(8) Baishi Mountain National Geological Park, with waterfalls and gorges and a section of the Great Wall.

Funiu Mountain, Henan. Ecoregion PA434. This park includes the Baotianman Biosphere Reserve and the dinosaur fossil egg site in Xixia. Forests in this Important Bird Area provide habitat for greater spotted eagle, eastern imperial eagle, and Reeve’s pheasant. Ecoregion PA434.

Huang Mountain, Anhui. See entry under World Heritage Sites.

Song Mountain, Henan. See entry under World Heritage Sites.

Tai Mountain, Shandong. See entry under World Heritage Sites.

Wang Wu Mountain and Daimei Mountain, Henan. This geopark encompasses the gorges along the Yellow River between Luoyang and Jiyuan. Ecoregion PA424.

Yuntai Geopark, Henan. This area is characterized by hanging springs and waterfalls, gorges, and sheer rock walls. Ecoregion PA411

XIII. Important Bird Areas

Baihua Mountain Nature Reserve, Beijing Municipality. See entry under Fang Mountain Geopark.

Baiyangdian, Hebei. Ecoregion PA411.

Beidai River Wetlands, Hebei. Used by migrating cranes, gulls, and songbirds, which rest on headlands protruding from the coastline, this area is an IBA for Chinese egret, Baikal teal, Siberian crane, great bustard, and black stork. Ecoregion PA411.

Beidagang Nature Reserve, Tianjin Municipality. An IBA for Oriental white stork, red-crowned crane, and swan goose. Ecoregion PA411.

Binzhou Coastal Islands, Shandong. An IBA for great bustard. Ecoregion PA902.

Caizi and Wuchang Lakes, Anhui. These and other lakes nearby make up the Anqing Wetlands IBA, which provides habitat for Oriental white stork, swan goose, hooded crane, and Eurasian spoonbill. Ecoregion PA415.

Chen Lake, Hubei. An IBA for Dalmatian pelican, Oriental white stork, lesser white-fronted goose, and Baikal teal. Ecoregion PA415.

Dongzhai Nature Reserve, Henan. An IBA for Reeve’s pheasant and fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA415.

Funiu Mountain Nature Reserve, Henan. See entry under World Network of Geoparks.

Gaoyou Lake, Jiangsu. An IBA for Dalmatian pelican, Oriental white stork, swan goose, and black-faced spoonbill. Ecoregion PA415.

Guanyang, Chongqing. An IBA for Reeve’s pheasant. Ecoregion PA417.

Guniujiang Nature Reserve, Anhui. An IBA for Elliot’s pheasant and brown-chested jungle flycatcher. Ecoregion PA415.

Heijin Nature Reserve, Shanxi. Wetlands in this IBA provide habitat for common crane. Ecoregion PA411.

Heyang wetlands, Shaanxi. An IBA for Oriental white stork, Eastern imperial eagle, red-crowned crane, great bustard, great egret, and whooper swan. Ecoregions PA 411 and PA 424.

Hou River Nature Reserve, Hubei. Forests provide an IBA for Reeve’s pheasant. Ecoregion PA101.

Huang Mountain, Anhui. See entry under World Heritage Sites.

Huangfu Mountain Nature Reserve, Anhui. An IBA for fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA415.

Huanglong Mountain, Shaanxi. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregion PA 424.

Laizhou Bay, Shandong. An IBA for black-bellied plover, lesser sand plover, and bar-tailed godwit. Ecoregion PA902.

Huping Mountain Nature Reserve, Hunan. An IBA for Reeve’s pheasant, brown-chested jungle flycatcher, and silver oriole. Ecoregion PA101.

Jigong Mountain Nature Reserve, Henan. Forests provide an IBA for Reeve’s pheasant and fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA415.

Kaifeng Liuyuankou Nature Reserve, Henan. An IBA for Oriental white stork, lesser white-fronted goose, swan goose, and Baikal teal. Ecoregion PA424.

Li Mountain Nature Reserve, Shanxi. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregions PA 411 and PA424.

Lianyungang saltworks, Jiangsu. An IBA for black-faced spoonbill, spotted redshank, marsh sandpiper, and great knot. Ecoregion PA424.

Longgan Lake Nature Reserve, Hubei. An IBA for Oriental white stork, swan goose, lesser white-fronted goose, and Baikal teal. Ecoregion PA415.

Luan River Estuary, Hebei. An IBA for Saunder’s gull. Ecoregions PA411 and PA902.

Luju coastal mudflat, Tianjin Municipality. An IBA for relict gull. Ecoregion PA902.

Luya Mountain Nature Reserve, Shanxi. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregions PA 411 and PA813.

Mengjin Yellow River Nature Reserve, Henan. An IBA for Oriental white stork, swan goose, great bustard, and common crane. Ecoregion PA 424.

Nansi Lake Nature Reserve, Shandong. An IBA for swan goose, lesser white-fronted goose, Baikal teal, scaly-sided merganser, and great bustard. Ecoregion PA 424.

Nandagang Marshes Nature Reserve, Hebei. Ecoregion PA902.

Pangquangou Nature Reserve, Shanxi. An IBA for swan goose, brown-eared pheasant, and greater spotted eagle. Ecoregions PA 411 and PA 1013.

Qilihai Nature Reserve, Tianjin Municipality. An IBA for Oriental white stork, great bustard, and red-crowned crane. Ecoregions PA411 and PA 902.

Qingliangfeng Nature Reserve, Anhui and Zhejiang. An IBA for Elliot’s pheasant and brown-chested jungle flycatcher. Ecoregion PA415.

Rizhao coastal wetlands and islands, Shandong. An IBA for swan goose and red-crowned crane. Ecoregion PA424.

Sanmenxia Kuqu Nature Reserve, Henan. An IBA for swan goose, lesser white-fronted goose, Baer’s pochard, red-crowned crane, and whooper swan. Ecoregion PA424.

Shaobo Lake, Jiangsu. . An IBA for Dalmatian pelican, Oriental white stork, swan goose, and black-faced spoonbill. Ecoregion PA415.

Shengjin Lake Nature Reserve, Anhui. An IBA for Oriental white stork, swan goose, lesser white-fronted goose, Baikal teal, and Baer’s pochard. Ecoregion PA415.

Shennongjia Biosphere Reserve, Hubei. See description under biosphere reserves.

Shijiu Lake Nature Reserve, Anhui. An IBA for Oriental white stork, swan goose, lesser white-fronted goose, Baikal teal, and great bustard. Ecoregion PA415.

Shishankou Reservoir, Henan. An IBA in southern Henan providing wetlands for Oriental white stork and swan goose. Ecoregion PA 415.

Sihong Nature Reserve, Jiangsu. An IBA for Oriental white stork, swan goose, Baikal teal, great bustard, and white-naped crane. Ecoregion PA424.

Taihang Mountain Macaque Nature Reserve, Henan. Wetlands provide habitat for waterbirds and the area is an IBA for Baikal teal, Baer’s pochard, and lesser kestrel. Ecoregion PA 411.

Tianlong Mountain Nature Reserve, Shanxi. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregion PA411.

Tianma Nature Reserve, Anhui. This is an IBA in the Dabie Mountains for Reeve’s pheasant and fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA 415.

Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang. See description under Biosphere Reserves.

Tuanbowa Nature Reserve, Tianjin Municipality. An IBA for Oriental white stork, great bustard, and red-crowned crane. Ecoregion PA411.

Weinan Sanhe, Shaanxi. An IBA for Baikal teal, red-crowned crane, great bustard, and common crane. Ecoregion PA411.

Wulu Mountain Nature Reserve, Shanxi. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregion PA411.

Xiaruyue Reservoir, Shanxi. An IBA for eagles and black stork. Ecoregion PA 411.

Xiaowutai Mountain Nature Reserve, Hebei. An IBA for brown-eared pheasant. Ecoregion PA 411.

Yancheng Nature Reserve, Jiangsu. See entry under Ramsar sites.

Yaoluoping Nature Reserve, Anhui. This IBA in the Dabie Mountains is designated for the Reeve’s pheasant and fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA415.

Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve, Shandong. Wetlands and grasslands provide an IBA for Oriental white stork, Saunder’s gull, great bustard, scaly-sided merganser, white-naped crane, and Nordmann’s greenshank. Ecoregion PA902.

Yubei Nature Reserve, Henan. An IBA for Oriental white stork, Dalmatian pelican, swan goose, and lesser white-fronted goose. Ecoregion PA411.

Yuhan Liangzhu, Zhejiang. Ecoregion PA415.

Yuncheng Swan Nature Reserve, Shanxi. Wetlands provide habitat for whooper swan and Oriental white stork. Ecoregion PA424.

Zipeng Mountain National Forest Park, Anhui. An IBA for fairy pitta. Ecoregion PA415.

XIV. References

Abell, Robin and 27 others. 2008. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation. Bioscience 58:403-414.

Basu, Asish R. et al. 2003. Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica. Science 302:1388-1392.

Beard, K. Christopher et al. 1996. Earliest Complete Dentition of an Anthropoid Primate from the Late Middle Eocene of Shanxi Province, China. Science 272:82-85.

BirdLife International. 2011. BirdLife’s Online World Bird Database. Accessed January 14, 2010, at http://www.birdlife.org/

Bowen, Gabriel J. et al. 2002. Mammalian Dispersal at the Paleocene/Eocene Boundary. Science 295:2062-2065.

Branigan, Tania. 2011. Chinese ‘Dinosaur City’ Reshapes Understanding of Prehistoric Era. The Guardian, May 13, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Brown, Jackum, Kieran Fogarty and Jo Archer. 2007. Asia. In Emma Beare, ed. 2006. 501 Must-Visit Natural Wonders. Bounty Books (Palawan).

Clark, David L. et al. 1986. Conodont Survivan and Low Iridium Abundances Across he Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China. Science 233:984-986.

Dineley, D.L. 2000. Permian. Pages 807-808 in Paul L. Hancock and Brian J. Skinner. Oxford Companion to the Earth. Oxford University Press.

Flam, Faye, ed. 1993. Dinosaur Egg Bonanza Floods U.S. Market. Science 261:679.

Fossil Trove Preserved. Science 291:1481 (23 February 2001).

Global Network of National Geoparks. http://www.globalgeopark.org/ (accessed 9/4/11).

Guo, J.H. et al. 2010. Significant Acidification in Major Chinese Croplands. Science 327:1008-1010.

Hao Xin and Richard Stone. 2010. China Amasses War Chest to Confront Its Environmental Nightmares. Science 327:1440-1441.

Hao Xin. 2007. Pollution Slows China’s Canal Project. Science 317:1846.

Harper, Damian et al. 2011. China. Lonely Planet.

Henan Province Tourism Administration. Xixia Dinosaur Remains Park. http://en.hnta.cn/Htmls/Scenic/Scenic_306.shtml (accessed 8/27/11).

Holden, Constance, ed. 1993. Scrambling for Dinosaur Eggs. Science 262:1369.

Hone, Dave. 2009. Dave Hone’s Archosaur Musings, May 5-7, 2009. http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/

Kwant, Cor. The Ginkgo Pages. http://kwanten.home.xs4all.nl/ (accessed 9/4/11).

Li Jiao. 2010. Water Shortages Loom as Northern China’s Aquifers Are Sucked Dry. Science 328:1462-1463.

Mundil, Roland et al. 2004. Age and Timing of the Permian Mass Extinctions: U/Pb Dating of Closed System Zircons. Science 305:1760-1763.

Olson, David M., et al., 2001. Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth. BioScience 51:933-938.

Pennisi. Elisabeth. 2004. Newly Hatched Dinosaur Babies Hit the Ground Running. Science 305:1396.

Postel, Sandra L. 2006. For Our Thirsty World, Efficiency or Else. Science 313:1046-1047. Review of When the Rivers Run Dry: Water—the Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century. Fred Pearce. Beacon Press, 2006.

Reme, Paul R. et al. 1995. Synchrony and Causal Relations Between Permian-Triassic Boundary Crises and Siberian Flood Volcanism. Science 269:1413-1416.

Riley, Laura and William. 2005. Nature’s Strongholds. Princeton University Press.

Shanwang Fossil Museum. http://www.chinatravel.com/shandong/weifang/attraction/shanwang-fossil-museum/ (accessed 9/3/11)

Rossie, James B., Xijun Ni, and K. Christopher Beard. 2006. Cranial Remains of an Eocene Tarsier. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences USA 103:4381-4385.

Spalding, Mark D. and 14 others. 2007. Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas. Bioscience 57:573-583.

Stone, Richard. 2011a. On China’s Beleaguered Yangtze, a Push to Save Surviving Species. Yale Environment 360, 23 August 2010. http://e360.yale.edu/ (accessed 8/1/2011).

Stone, Richard. 2011c. China Aims to Turn Tide Against Toxic Lake Pollution. Science 333:1210-1211.

Stone, Richard. 2011b. The Legacy of the Three Gorges Dam. Science 333:817.

Stone, Richard. 2010. Excavation Yields Tantalizing Hints of Earliest Marine Reptiles. Science 330:1164-1165.

Stone, Richard. 2009. Still Seeking Peking Man. Science 325:22-23.

Stone, Richard and Hawk Jia. 2006. Going Against the Flow. Science 313:1034-1037.

Walder, Rebecca, Jackum Brown and David Brown. Asia. In Emma Beare, ed. 2006. 501 Must-Visit Destinations. Bounty Books.

Wong, Edward. 2011. Plan for China’s Water Crisis Spurs Concern. New York Times, June 1, 2011. www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/asia/

World Heritage List. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list (accessed 11/6/10) and World Heritage Tentative Lists (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5318/).

Wu, Xinzhi. 1999. Investigating the Possible Use of Fire at Zhoukoudian, China. Science 283:299a.

UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve Directory. http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/database.asp (accessed 11/6/10).

Zhao Zi-Kui. 1994. Dinosaur Eggs in China: On the Structure and Evolution of Eggshells. Pages 184-202 in Kenneth Carpenter, Karl F. Hirsch, and John R. Horner, eds. Dinosaur Eggs and Babies. Cambridge University Press.

Zhiyan Zhou. Gingko biloba—Its Ancestors and Allies. International Organisation of Palaeobotany. www.palaeobotany.org/page/living-fossils/gingko-biloba/ (accessed 8/27/11)

Grand Canal, Longmen, and Tai Mountain

Grand water diversions, 100,000 Buddhist sculptures, and sacred mountains

Part I of Warm Temperate China

I. Map boundaries: 30 to 40 degrees North; 110 to 120 degrees East

II. Country (Provinces and Municipalities): China (Anhui, Beijing Municipality, Chongqing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Tianjin Municipality, and Zhejiang).

III. Overview of the Cultural Landscape, or a History of China in 25 Sites

Because the ecoregions of central China are human-dominated, it appears appropriate to describe the cultural history from an ecological standpoint. It is evident that there are profound connections between the natural and cultural landscapes of central China. The tour begins with the flood-prone Yellow River (Huang) as it exits the mountains, where catastrophic natural events influenced patterns of population movement at Sanyangzhuang. It continues with religious sites such as Longmen, where limestone caves provided a landscape for art achievement, and includes the limestone mountains, whose pinnacles and precipitous topography provided sacred cultural landscapes. It ends with the tombs of emperors, which are designed to indicate harmony with the natural landscape. There are 25 sites which I have chosen to provide a whirlwind orientation tour. Additional sites are listed in the World Heritage listing and other site listings which follow.

Site 1. Erlitou, Henan. Around the middle of the second millennium BCE, Chinese civilization is believed to have been founded in the fertile agricultural plains of the middle Yellow River area of Henan. China’s founding dynasty is believed to be the Xia dynasty. The archaeological site of Erlitou, on the Luo River between Luoyang and Zhengzhou, may have been its capital. Erlitou had a central walled palace and street network. A section of road with wagon tracks provides evidence for wheeled vehicles (Lawler 2009). Even earlier settlements have been found in Liangzhu, Zhejiang, just to the south of the map area.

While current archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest millet and rice harvest took place to the west and south of the map area, it was in central China, in the lower Yellow and Yangtze River valleys, that domestication of these grains led to a flourishing civilization. The earliest rice and millet seeds did not remain attached to the stem. They drop as soon as they are mature. Domestication was a process of changing the predominant forms of these plants to ones whose seeds remained and could be harvested and stored by farmers. The domestication process is believed to have been gradual, with cross-fertilization among cultivated and wild varieties taking place in many localities. Eventually, the domesticated plants become totally dependent upon the farmer for reproduction. The domestication process continues today with modern plant breeding (Jones and Liu 2009).

Site 2. Yin, Henan. Following the Xia period represented by Erlitou, the Shang Dynasty sites of Zhengzhou (Erligang section) and Yin are also located in modern-day Henan. Yin is considered the first capital of early China, from 1300 to 1406 BCE. The World Heritage-listed Bronze Age site has royal tombs and palaces. Oracle bones discovered at Yin provide evidence of a well-developed writing system. More than 10,000 pieces of inscribed oracle bones have been recovered (Nelson 1996a). Another Shan settlement was at Taosi in Shanxi. The small walled village contained an astronomical observatory (Xu and He 2010).

Site 3. The Grand Canal, Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Tianjin Municipality. Started in 486 BCE in Jiangsu province and completed by 610 CE, the 1,115-mile canal had 24 locks. In the 1280s, the canal was shortened by construction of a section across the foothills of the mountains in Shandong. It was built to move goods from the south to the north. Sections are still navigable, mostly in the southern portion in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, the canal north of the Yangtze will live on because, although it is no longer navigable, it is being upgraded to serve as the eastern route of the South-North Water Transfer Project (Lague 2007; World Heritage Tentative Lists 2011). The canal is being widened and deepened, and water will be pumped under the Yellow River in a tunnel (Stone and Jia 2006).

Sites 4 and 5. Great Wall (Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi) and Qufu (Shandong). The first centralized monarchy was the Qin dynasty. It was in this period (221 to 207 BCE) that the Great Wall, another World Heritage site, was begun in an attempt to secure the northern border. The subsequent Western Han dynasty established Confucianism as the favored philosophy and opened up the Silk Route to the Mediterranean Sea. The house of Confucius, located at Qufu in Shandong, is a World Heritage site.

Site 6. Sanyangzhuang, Henan. During floods, the Yellow River channel downstream of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, has relocated at various times in China’s history. From 1324 to 1853, for example, the river actually entered the Yellow Sea in Jingsu around 34 degrees North. Currently, the present-day delta is about 38 degrees North, and in the past it has entered as far north as 39 degrees, near present-day Tianjin. Historically, the river has carried massive quantities of sand and silt eroded from the loess plateau to the north and west. As these sediments fall out, they cause much braiding of the river channel, which leads to multiple channels and frequent course changes (Kidder 2010). About 10 or 11 BCE, a massive and catastrophic flood buried the village of Sanyangzhuang, now located in northeastern Henan. Fields, plows, pottery, and tile-roofed homes were buried under 70 cm of silt. The area did not recover until the 7^th Century CE (Lawler 2010). The village site was discovered by modern archaeologists in 2003, and the sediments on-site preserve a record of 12,000 years of Yellow River and Chinese history. At the village site, roof tiles are imprinted with characters reading “long life,” Cart tracks and human footprints lead out of town, suggesting a quick exodus and possessions were left frozen in time. Copper coins, hoofprints, and impressions of mulberry leaves have been found (Watts 2011). The flood of 11 BCE was so extensive that it may have caused population relocation to the south. In fact, wetter climatic conditions, improved technology leading to more intensive farming and subsequent erosion, and deforestation may have helped to cause political uncertainties at the time (Kidder 2010).

Site 7. Mancheng, Hebei. The tombs of Han dynasty rulers are representative of the luxury of the period, with jade shrouds covering the buried king and his princess (Segraves 1996). The Han dynasty came to an end by 220 CE.

Site 8. Longmen Grottoes, Henan. The carved Buddhist grottoes at Longmen, a World Heritage site, are representative of the Tang dynasty. The apogee of Chinese stone carving and the largest collection of Chinese art from the Wei and Tang Dynasties, Longmen Grottoes is on the Yi River south of Luoyang. The caves west of the river tend to be from the Wei and those east of the river tend to be from the Tang Dynasty. There are 2,345 grottoes and 100,000 sculptures. The carvings are all dedicated to Buddhism and took place from 493 to 1127. Preserved for 1500 years, some carvings were removed in the early 20^th century and sold to Western art collectors. The Offering Procession of the Empress as Donor with Her Court, carved about 522 CE, is in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City.

Site 9. Zhaozhou Bridge (Anji Bridge), Hebei. The oldest standing bridge in China, built 1400 years ago and completed in 605 CE, is still in use and is a civil engineering landmark. It is the world's oldest open-spandrel arch bridge. There are smaller arches at each end of the bridge that transmit the load of the deck down to the main arch. The open spandrels allow some water to flow over the main arch when the river floods.

Site 10. Hongcun, Anhui. In 960 CE, the Song dynasty was established, and its capital was Kaifeng, Henan. Military defeats in 1126 forced the Song to move south to Zhejiang, and all of China was conquered in 1278 by the Mongols Ghenghis Khan and his grandson Kublai Khan. Hongcun village, dating to 1131 CE, is a World Heritage site representative of the Song dynasty period.

Sites 11 to 16, Sacred Mountains: Tai (Shandong), Song (Henan), Hua (Shaanxi), North Heng (Shanxi), Wutai (Shanxi), and Jiuhua (Anhui)

The Chinese culture, through Taoist and Buddhist beliefs, attempts to blend temples, shrines, and even tombs with the natural landscape, which transitions from dense evergreen forested mountains in the south to drier grasslands in the northwest of this map area. Mountain peaks were transformed into elaborate cultural landscapes and places to visit and cherish, and formed the backdrop for tombs of emperors. Each sacred mountain is a cultural and natural landscape. The five sacred Taoist mountains are Tai, Song, Hua, North Heng, and South Heng (located to the south of the map area). The four sacred Buddhist mountains are Wutai, Jiuhua, Emei, and Putuo. Emei and Putuo are located to the west and south of the map area.

Site 17, Wudang Mountain, Hubei. Taoist buildings date to the 7^th century, and the Purple Heaven Palace dates to 1119. Wudang is the birthplace of the martial art tai chi.

Site 18, Huang Mountain, Anhui, has inspired Chinese art and literature since the 700s. A school of Chinese landscape painting is named after the mountain; many of these paintings date from the 16^th century.

Sites 19, 20, and 21. Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Temple of Heaven, Beijing Municipality. These sites represent the later Chinese dynasties from 1416 to 1911 and indicate supreme power as well as the emperor’s mandate to preserve harmony and hierarchy. The Forbidden City is the most grand and best-preserved palace complex in the world, covering 183 acres and surrounded by a moat and wall. The Summer Palace is a 726-acre royal park and garden. The Temple of Heaven is a sacrificial altar symbolizing the relationship between earth and heaven.

Sites 22, 23, and 24. Xianling (Hubei), Western Qing Tombs (Hebei), and Zhong Mountain (Jiangsu). Tombs are sacred cultural landscapes that reflect the cultural and artistic traditions that dominated this part of the world for 500 years. The ideal tomb site attempted to achieve harmony with the natural landscape. There must be a mountain to the north, lower elevation to the south, and hills to the east and west. The Xianling tomb in Hubei and the Zhong Mountain tombs in Nanjing are from the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644). The Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) was the last dynasty; these tombs are located in Hebei southwest of Beijing and consist of 14 tombs and two building complexes in a pine forest.

Site 25, Ping Yao, Shanxi, is a well-preserved traditional walled Chinese city and represents the Qing dynasty as it was a major banking center. There are 4,000 preserved Ming- and Qing-dynasty houses within the city walls. The city wall itself was built to resemble a tortoise.

IV. Terrestrial Ecoregions

Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests of the Paleoarctic Biome

PA 101. Guizhou Plateau broadleaf and mixed forests. This cool, cloudy realm of limestone pinnacles is dominated by plants in the oak, laurel, and tea families. Other common plants include hemlock, maple, rhododendron, Prunus and fir. Animals include macaques, monkeys, tigers, Sika deer, and leopards. Found in Chongqing Municipality, Hubei, and Hunan on the map.

PA 411. Central China loess plateau mixed forest. This ecoregion developed on wind-blown loess 200 m thick and is a transition from the deciduous temperate forests to the steppes and deserts to the north and west. The forest is a mixed broadleaf deciduous forest of oak, birch, maple, and linden. Found in Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi in the map area.

PA 415. Changjiang Plain evergreen forests. The broad Yangtze or Chang Jiang (Long River) valley downstream of the Three Gorges originally contained native evergreen oak and laurel forests. The Yangtze River dolphin is found in Poyang Lake, along with Chinese alligator. Found in Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang within the map area.

PA 417. Daba Mountains evergreen forests. Mixed evergreen oaks and tree mints; pines. Shennongjia in western Hubei has old growth forests. It is known for the rare Davidia tree. Found in Chongqing Municipality, Hubei, and Shaanxi in the map area.

PA 424. Huang He Plain mixed forests. This mostly deciduous forest area is characterized by oak, elm, pistachio, and pines. Found in Anhui, Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Tianjin Municipality in the map area.

PA 430. Northeast China Plain deciduous forests. Deciduous forests found here are a mixture of hardwoods and conifers, including oaks,maples, elm, ash, and pine. Found in Liaoning in the northeastern corner of the map area.

PA 434. Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests. Found in Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi in the map area. A biologically rich deciduous forest of oak, elm, walnut, maple, and pines. To the west of the map area are panda preserves.

Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands

PA 813. Mongolian-Manchurian grassland. Flat to rolling grasslands provide habitat for wild ungulates and are used for sheep and goat grazing. Found in Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi in the map area

Flooded Grasslands and Savannas

PA 902. Bohai Sea saline meadow. Made of sediments in the Yellow and Luan River Deltas, these areas are dominated by goosefoot and grasses. They are mostly used for rice and aquaculture, with natural areas providing habitat for Saunders gull and red-crowned crane. Found in Hebei, Shandong, and Tianjin Municipality in the map area.

PA 908. Yellow Sea saline meadow. The delta of the Huai River consists of saline meadows dominated by goosefoot and grasslands. About 40 percent of the wild population of red-crowned crane winters here. Some areas are used for shrimp aquaculture. Found in Jiangsu in the map area.

Montane Grasslands and Shrublands

PA 1013, Ordos Plateau Steppe. Scrub vegetation with some desertification from heavy grazing. Found in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Shaanxi in the map area.

V. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World

Northern Asia Region, Temperate Floodplain Rivers and Wetlands

635. Huang He Great Bend. Includes Inner Mongolia province on map.

636. Lower Huang He. Includes Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces on map.

Southern Asia Region, Temperate Floodplain Rivers and Wetlands

766. Lower Yangtze. The Yangtze and tributaries upriver to Three Gorges, including Huai River, Weishan Lake, and Dan River drainages. Includes Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and provinces on map.

Southern Asia Region, Temperate Upland Rivers

765. Middle Yangtze. Includes Three Gorges area of Chongqing Municipality and western Hubei province on map.

VI. Marine Ecoregions of the World

Temperate Northern Pacific Realm, Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific Province.

50. Yellow Sea. Includes Yellow Sea and Bo Gulf on map.

VII. World Heritage Sites

Dengfeng (Mount Songshang), Henan. The central Taoist sacred mountain of China is associated with the concept of the center of heaven and earth. It was believed that this mountains was the only place where astronomical observations were accurate. The site consists of eight units containing temples, pagodas, an academy, and an observatory. Cypress trees on the site are believed to be 4500 years old. The other four sacred mountains are Hua (shown on map), North Heng (shown on map), South Heng (not in map area), and Tai (shown on map, also a World Heritage Site). Ecoregion PA424.

Great Wall, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. The world’s largest military structure was built from 220 BC to 1600 AD and served a single strategic purpose for 2,000 years. Ecoregions 411, 813, and 1013.

Hongcun Village, Anhui (Part of Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui site). Founded in 1131, this is an exceptionally well-preserved feudal village dating to the Tang and Song dynasties. The village is arranged in the shape of an ox and has a crescent-shaped moon pond. Northwest are other villages of similar character, including Tachuan, noted for fall foliage. Northeast of Honcun is the Mukeng bamboo forest, offering hiking trails. Ecoregion PA 415.

Huang (Yellow) Mountain, Anhui. Renowned for its magnificent scenery, Huang Mountain inspired art and literature throughout Chinese history. Huangshan culture is a school of Chinese landscape painting. Scenery includes rocky peaks, forests of stone pillars, and waterfalls, all in a densely forested landscape of evergreen moist forest below 1,100 m and deciduous forest from 1100 to 1800 m. Huang is also in the world network of geoparks for its natural landscape. Ecoregion 415.

Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing Municipality. Capital of China for 3,000 years, the Forbidden City or Palace Museum in the center of Beijing was the seat of supreme power from 1416 to 1911.The red walls and yellow roofs in this 74-acre area are a reflection of the emperor’s mandate to preserve harmony and hierarchy. Ecoregion PA411.

Imperial Tombs, Beijing Municipality, Hebei, Hubei, and Jiangsu. The world heritage unit is composed of 14 sites, eight of which are in the map area. These tombs are sacred cultural landscapes, a testimony to a cultural and architectural tradition that for 500 years dominated eastern Asia. The imposing mausolea were an affirmation of authority. Ming tombs attempted to achieve a harmony with a natural site, consistent with principles of Confucianism and Taoism. The desired location offered a mountain to the north, a lower elevation landscape to the south, and must be framed to the east and west by hills. One waterway needs to be featured. Buildings are constructed along a main access raod several km in length and secondary ways to lead to other mausolea.

Unit 1, Xianling Tomb, Hubei, a Ming tomb of Xing, who was declared emperor posthumously in 1519. Ecoregion PA 417.

Unit 3, Western Qing Tombs, Hebei. There are 14 imperial tombs and two building complexes in centuries-old pine forests. Ecoregion PA411.

Units 5 through 11, Nanjing, Jiangsu. These Ming Dynasty tombs are on the south side of Zhong Mountain, Nanjing. The site was chosen to reflect geomantic concepts of Confucianism and Taoism, with huge culverts and a sewer system to convey an outer imperial river and an inner river. The sacred way is lined with 34 statues. Ecoregion PA 415.

Longmen Grottoes, Henan. The apogee of Chinese stone carving and the largest collection of Chinese art from the Wei and Tang Dynasties, Longmen Grottoes is on the Yi River south of Luoyang. The caves west of the river tend to be from the Wei and those east of the river tend to be from the Tang Dynasty. There are 2,345 grottoes and 100,000 sculptures. The carvings are all dedicated to Buddhism and took place from 493 to 1127. Preserved for 1500 years, some carvings were removed in the early 20^th century and sold to Western art collectors. The Offering Procession of the Empress as Donor with Her Court, carved about 522 CE, is in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. Ecoregion PA 424.

Ping Yao, Shanxi. A well-preserved traditional walled Chinese city, with buildings dating to the 14^th century. Nearby Shuanglin Temple dates to 1571. Ping Yao was China’s major banking center in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Ecoregion PA 411.

Qufu, Shandong. The family mansion of Confucius, renowned philosopher, politician and educator who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, founder of an ideology that pre-eminent in China for 2,000 years. The complex contains more than 100 buildings maintained for the last 2,000 years. The Confucius Forest, a burial ground for Confucius and his descendents, is a pine and cypress forest covering 200 ha. Ecoregion PA 424.

Summer Palace, Beijing Municipality. Built in 1750, this is the masterpiece Chinese landscape garden and is a symbol of Chinese civilization. The natural landscape is combined with pavilions, halls, palaces and temples. Ecoregion PA 411.

Tai Mountain (East Great Mountain), Shandong. Considered a birthplace of Chinese civilization, ancient temples built over 2,000 years and dense forests dot this mountain cultural landscape. One of the five Taoist mountains, the eastern mountain is associated with the rising sun, birth, and renewal. The central hiking route is an outdoor museum of calligraphic art. The other Taoist mountains are Hua, Shaanxi (shown on map), North Heng, Shanxi (shown on map), South Heng, Hunan (not shown on map), and Song, Henan (shown on map). Tai Mountain is also in the world network of geoparks for its early Precambrian trilobite fossils. Ecoregion PA 424.

Temple of Heaven, Beijing Municipality. Dating from 1420, this imperial sacrificial altar is located amidst gardens and pine woods. Considered a masterpiece of art and design, it symbolizes the relationship between earth and heaven at the heart of Chinese cosmogony. Ecoregion PA 411.

Wudang Mountains Ancient Building Complex, Hubei. Taoist buildings date to the 7^th Century. The Golden Shrine, atop Sky Pillar Peak, is built of bronze and dates to 1307. Purple Heaven Palace, built 1119 to 1126 is the largest and best preserved building complex. The mountain is considered the birthplace of the martial art tai chi. Ecoregion PA417.

Wutai Mountains Cultural Landscape, Shanxi. One of the four sacred Buddhist mountains and home to Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Wutai is home to 41 monasteries, dating to the first century CE. Foguang Temple is the highest surviving timber building of the Tang Dynasty, with life-sized clay sculptures. Shuxiang Temple contains 500 statues representing Buddhist stories in three-dimensional pictures of mountains and water. There are five open treeless peaks, giving the mountain the nickname of five terrace mountain. The other three sacred mountains are Emei in Sichuan (not shown on map), Putuo in Zhejiang (not shown on map), and Jiuhua in Anhui (shown on map). Ecoregion PA 411.

Yin Ruins, Henan. The ancient capital of the Shang Dynasty, 1300 to 1406 BCE. The Bronze Age site has royal tombs and palaces from the earliest capital of China. Ecoregion PA 411.

Yungang Grottoes, Shanxi. Considered a masterpiece of Chinese Buddhist cave art, this Fifth Century BCE site consists of 252 grottoes and 51,000 statues. Ecoregion PA813

Zhoukoudian, Beijing Municipality. The fossils of Peking Man, now known as Homo erectus, were found in 1929 at this site 50 km southwest of Beijing. The cave-riddled hills yielded 200 bones before 1937, in strata that are 680,000 to 780,000 years old (Stone 2009). There is some evidence that bones were burned, although it is disputed whether the inhabitants were intentionally using fire (Wu 1999). The fossils and artifacts such as rudimentary tools vanished following the Japanese invasion in 1937. Ecoregions 411 and 424.

VIII. Other points of interest

Cangyan Mountain (Green Crag Mountain), Hebei. The Hanging Palace, perched on a cliff, is located here in a forest of cypress and blue sandalwood. Ecoregion PA411.

Dangjiacun, Shaanxi. A 14^th century village with 125 courtyard houses and a Confucian pagoda. Ecoregion PA411.

Erlitou, Henan. An archaeological site in the Yellow River floodplain that may be representative of China’s founding dynasty, the Xia dynasty, dating to 2000 BCE. It contains the earliest known bronze vessels (Nelson 1996b). Ecoregion PA424.

Foguang Temple, Shanxi. Wooden buildings date to 857 CE. Ecoregion PA 411.

Guoyu, Shanxi. This still-inhabited Ming dynasty settlement is near Haihui Buddhist temple and Chin’s castle, home of the author of a Chinese dictionary in the 17^th century. Ecoregions PA 411 and PA424

Hua Mountain (West Great Mountain), Shaanxi. One of five Taoist sacred mountains, known for precipitous terrain. Ecoregion 424.

Heng Mountain (North Great Mountain), Shanxi. One of five Taoist sacred mountains, it is actually known for its hanging Buddhist monastery. Long support stilts make for rickety catwalks and corridors. Ecoregion PA 411.

Jiahu, Henan. A sixth to seventh millennium BCE archaeological site which contains controversial evidence of Chinese writing on tortoise shells. There is also evidence of flutes (Lawler 2003). Ecoregion PA415.

Jietai Temple, Beijing Municipality. Located west of Beijing, this temple dates to 622 CE and is dotted with ancient pines up to 1300 years in age. Ecoregion PA411.

Jinci Temple, Shanxi. Dating to 984, the Hall of the Sacred Mother contains eight dragons and 42 Song-Dynasty clay maidservants. The Zhou cypress has grown at a 30 degree angle for the last 900 years. Ecoregion PA 411.

Jiuhua, Anhui. One of four sacred Buddhist mountains, it is dedicated to Ksitigarbha, Bodhisattva of beings in hell realms. Ecoregion PA 415.

Lijia Mountain, Shanxi. Cave houses to nine stories are in a 550-year-old village near the Yellow River. Ecoregion PA 411.

Mancheng, Hubei. The second century BCE tombs from the Han Dynasty of Liu Sheng and Dou Wan are located in cave complexes in a hillside. Jade shrouds cover the king and his princess (Seagraves 1996). Ecoregion PA411.

Mizhi, Shaanxi. The Li Zicheng Palace, built in 1643, for the shepherd who led a peasant rebellion and became emperor. Ecoregion PA1013.

Mogan Mountain, Zhejiang. A resort famous for hiking to forested views and bamboo and grand villa architecture. Ecoregion PA 424.

Nanchan Temple, Shanxi. Wooden buildings date to 782 CE. Ecoregion PA 411.

Qiao, Shanxi. This Qing-dynasty merchant’s residence contains six courtyards and 300 rooms. Ecoregion PA 411.

Qixia Temple and Thousand Buddha Cliff, Jiangsu. Statues carved into this cliff date to the Qi Dynasty. Ecoregion PA424.

Sanyangzhuang, Henan. An archaeological site in northeast Henan considered to be China’s Pompeii because the village was evacuated quickly in response to an onrushing flood, leaving a snapshot of a village and all its belongings in 11 BCE. Ecoregion PA 424.

Tanzhe Temple, Beijing Municipality. Located west of Beijing, this third century temple is known for ancient cypress and pine trees. Ecoregion PA 411.

Taosi, Shanxi. An archaeological site considered to be a founding site of Chinese civilization in the second millennium BCE. Ecoregion PA 411.

Wang Family Courtyard, Shanxi. This Qing dynasty residence contains cave dwellings. Ecoregion PA 411.

Wanxian Mountains Scenic Area and Guoliangcun, Henan. This high-altitude stone hamlet has precipitous dropoffs and an artists colony. Ecoregion PA 411.

White Horse Temple, east of Luoyang, Henan. The Buddhist monastery is believed to the first erected in China, in the first century CE. Ecoregion PA424.

Xiongjia Zhong, Hubei. This site contains 2300-year-old tombs with China’s largest collection of jade. The skeletal remains of two horses pulling a chariot have been unearthed. Ecoregion PA424.

Yangzhou, Jiangsu. The Slender West Lake Park was a vacation spot ffor emperors. Boat rides on the Grand Canal are offered here. Ecoregion PA 424.

Yingxian, Shanxi. This site in northern Shanxi is the home of the five-story Muta tower, the world’s oldest and tallest wooden pagoda. It houses Buddhist carvings. Ecoregion PA 411.

Yuci, Shanxi. This ancient city dating to 1362 contains 400 well-preserved rooms. Ecoregion PA 411.

Yujiacun, Hebei. This Chinese clan village is known as the stone village because the architecture is carved from stones. Ecoregion PA 411.

Zhangbi, Shanxi. The 1400-year-old network of defense tunnels dates to the Sui Dynasty. Ecoregion PA 411.

Zhaozhou Bridge (Anji Bridge), Hebei. The world’s first segmental arch bridge, built 1400 years ago, is still in use and is a civil engineering landmark. Ecoregion PA 411.

Zhujiayu, Shandong. This village dates to 1700 BCE and is known for its ancestral temples. Ecoregion PA424.

Zijin (Purple-Gold) Mountain, Nanjing Municipality, Jiangsu. This heavily forested area contains tombs, the Linggu Temple, and a botanical garden. Ecoregion PA424.

IX. References

Abell, Robin and 27 others. 2008. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation. Bioscience 58:403-414.

American Society of Civil Engineers, History and Heritage of Civil Engineering, Landmark Projects. http://live.asce.org/hh/index.mxml?lid=142&versionChecked=true

Brown, Jackum, Kieran Fogarty and Jo Archer. 2007. Asia. In Emma Beare, ed. 2006. 501 Must-Visit Natural Wonders. Bounty Books (Palawan).

BirdLife International. 2011. BirdLife’s Online World Bird Database. Accessed January 14, 2010, at http://www.birdlife.org/

Hao Xin. 2007. Pollution Slows China’s Canal Project. Science 317:1846.

Harper, Damian et al. 2011. China. Lonely Planet.

Jones, Martin K. and Xinyi Liu. 2009. Origins of Agriculture in East Asia. Science 324:730-731.

Kidder, Tristam R. 2010. Geoarchaeology at Sanyangzhuang: A Preliminary Report on the 2009 Field Season. Submitted to Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou. Publication of Geoarchaeology Lab, Washington University in St. Louis. http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/archy/projchina.html

Lague, David. 2007. On an Ancient Canal, Grunge Gives Way to Grandeur. New York Times, July 24.

Lawler, Andrew. 2010. Uncovering a Rural Chinese Pompeii. Science 328:566.

Lawler, Andrew. 2009. Beyond the Yellow River: How China Became China. Science 325:930-935.

Lawler, Andrew. 2009. Founding Dynasty or Myth? Science 325:934.

Lawler, Andrew. 2003. Tortoise Pace for the Evolution of Chinese Writing? Science 300:723.

Nelson, Sarah Milledge. 1996a. Shang Civilization. Pages 140-141 in Fagan, Brian M. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press.

Nelson, Sarah Milledge. 1996b. Early Civilizations of China. Pages 137 to 140 in Fagan, Brian M. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press.

Olson, David M., et al., 2001. Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth. BioScience 51:933-938.

Spalding, Mark D. and 14 others. 2007. Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas. Bioscience 57:573-583.

Segraves, Julie M. 1996. Han Empire. Pages 143-144 in Brian M. Fagan. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press.

Stone, Richard. 2009. Still Seeking Peking Man. Science 325:22-23.

Stone, Richard and Hawk Jia. 2006. Going Against the Flow. Science 313:1034-1037.

Walder, Rebecca, Jackum Brown and David Brown. Asia. In Emma Beare, ed. 2006. 501 Must-Visit Destinations. Bounty Books.

Watts, Judy H. 2011. Beneath the Silt: Combing for Clues to China’s Silk Road. Washington Magazine (Washington University in St. Louis) 81(3):12-17 (June).

World Heritage List. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list (accessed 11/6/10) and World Heritage Tentative Lists (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5318/).

Wu, Xinzhi. 1999. Investigating the Possible Use of Fire at Zhoukoudian, China. Science 283:299a.

UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve Directory. http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/database.asp (accessed 11/6/10).

Xu Fengxian and He Nu. 2010. Taosi Observatory, China, p. 86. In Clive Ruggles and Michel Cotte. Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: A Thematic Study. International Council on Monuments and Sites and International Astronomical Union, Paris. Available at http://www.astronomicalheritage.org/.