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Okay so the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system says that Tucson has a steppe climate, but Tucson is in the Sonoran desert and there are cacti (plural of cactus) in Tucson. In which case I believe that cacti only grow in deserts and not steppes because Denver colorado has a steppe climate, and there aint no cacti in denver.
Cacti can grow in semi-arid regions. Montana has cacti.
Denver area also has cacti.
Tucson is borderline desert and semi-arid/steppe. There's quite a bit of vegetation there for Tucson to be considered a true desert climate like Arica.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Originally Posted by shrek2001
Okay so the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system says that Tucson has a steppe climate, but Tucson is in the Sonoran desert and there are cacti (plural of cactus) in Tucson. In which case I believe that cacti only grow in deserts and not steppes because Denver colorado has a steppe climate, and there aint no cacti in denver.
Temperatures come into play for cacti as well. There are semi arid sections of the caribbean islands that have cacti, like southern Cuba as an example. There are no cacti in Colorado because it is too cold. Cacti are a subtropical and warmer species
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Anyways, I can answer the question. According to Koppen, Tucson is semi arid, just missing arid, and I would say that is correct.
Especially if you drive south on 19 or east on 10, it VERY quickly no longer looks like desert. But, if you go west on 86 or west on 10, it VERY quickly becomes true desert
Temperatures come into play for cacti as well. There are semi arid sections of the caribbean islands that have cacti, like southern Cuba as an example. There are no cacti in Colorado because it is too cold. Cacti are a subtropical and warmer species
There are quite a few cacti native to Colorado. It's true however that the vast majority of cacti are native to warmer climates.
"Tucson has a desert climate (Köppen BWh), with two major seasons, summer and winter; plus three minor seasons: fall, spring, and the monsoon. Tucson averages 11.8 inches (299.7 mm) of precipitation per year, more than most other locations with desert climates, but it still qualifies as desert due to its high evapotranspiration; in other words, it experiences a high net loss of water.[45] A similar scenario is seen in Alice Springs, Australia, which averages 11 inches (279.4 mm) a year, but has a desert climate."
Interesting how they use high evaporation rates to justify its desert climate. There must be some other sort of factor separate from just precipitation when classifying climates as arid.
Temperatures come into play for cacti as well. There are semi arid sections of the caribbean islands that have cacti, like southern Cuba as an example. There are no cacti in Colorado because it is too cold. Cacti are a subtropical and warmer species
Cacti do grow in Colorado. Quite a bit fewer than, say Arizona, but they're still there.
To me personally it seems to have a bit to much vegetation to be considered a desert, especially considering that the areas around Phoenix look like this
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