1. Colorado Life Zones 5. 1. Alpine Prairie 2. Foothills 3. Montane 4.
Subalpine
This first slide introduces the Colorado life zones. Ask students to point out differences between the life zones: the prairie life zone does not have any trees or shrubs; the foothills life zone is partially forested; the montane life zone has a variety of vegetation; the subalpine life zone is completely forested with coniferous trees; and the alpine life zone has snow and only small plants. 6.
Riparian

2. Colorado Life Zones Alpine 11,500 +ft. Sub alpine 10,000 – 11,500 ft.
Montane
8,000 – 10,000 ft.
This slide gives the students an idea of where each life zone is located in relation to elevation. As elevation increases, temperature decreases. This is due to adiabatic processes, where temperature drops because of the decrease in atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes. When pressure drops, air expands and molecules of air are doing work as they expand. As energy is expended in expanding, heat is lost, and temperature decreases.
Foothills
5,500 – 8,000 ft.
Riparian
Plains
3,500 – 5,500 ft.

3. Influences on the Life Zones
Elevation
Climate
Soils (Dirt)
Threats
Animals
Plants
Food Web
These are the different categories of information that will be discussed throughout the presentation for each life zone. It is a chance to get the students familiarized with what you will be talking about. Reiterate how elevation affects temperature and climate which in turn affect soils, animals, plants, the food web and can alter threats.

4. Montane Life Zone This is the first slide of the montane life zone.
Add appropriate picture.

5. Montane Life Zone Montane 8,000 – 10,000 ft. Alpine 11,500 +ft.
Sub alpine
10,000 – 11,500 ft.
Montane
8,000 – 10,000 ft.
This slide gives the students an idea of where each life zone is located in relation to elevation. Focus on how the montane life zone has a middle elevation in relation to other life zones, it also has a moderate temperature compared to the other life zones.
Foothills
5,500 – 8,000 ft.
Riparian
Plains
3,500 – 5,500 ft.

6. What Is It Like In The Montane?
Climate
Snow falls in late fall and winter, thunderstorms in summer, more rain than foothills. Warmer than alpine.
Temperature
Stays near freezing (24-32 F) in the winter, warm in the summer (70-78 F)
Geography
Located between foothills and subalpine. This zone supports many types of plant and animal habitats.
A general information slide about the montane life zone. The montane receives more precipitation than the foothills and is warmer than the subalpine and alpine life zones. This life zone supports a wide variety of habitats and has a variety of soils. Soils in valley are deep and fertile, supporting grasses and shrubs, while soils on slopes are rocky, supporting trees.
Soils
Deep soils in flat meadows help grasses and shrubs grow. Trees grow better in less wet, more rocky soils on the slopes of the valleys.

7. How Tall Are The Trees In The Montane?
Alpine
Riparian
Foothills
This is a good way to remind the students of what life zone they are in. The montane life zone has many tall trees but also has meadows with grasses and shrubs.
Plains

8. What kinds of plants grow in the Montane?
Ask the question to students.

9. Douglas Fir Found in wet upper montane zone
Emphasize that Douglas fir cones are distinguished by their “mouse tails” (extended bracts.) Douglas fir is an evergreen or coniferous tree, its leaves are green all year round and do not fall off every autumn.
A worksheet question is based on this slide.
4. How can you identify Douglas fir cones in the montane life zone?
Douglas fir cones have “mouse-tails” (extended bracts.)
Found in wet upper montane zone
Flat needles, cones have “mouse tails”
Rough Bark
Strong, Hard Wood – Good for Construction
Bears like to scrape the bark and eat sap

10. Lodgepole Pine
Mention that lodgepole pine requires fire to regenerate and that its cones do not open unless heated by a fire. Fires in lodgepole pine forests are stand-replacing, meaning that all or almost all trees are killed. However, because lodgepole pine cones do not open unless heated (called serotinous), fire opens the cones and seeds are released to establish the next generation of trees. Lodgepole pine forests usually contains only lodgepole trees and the trees in a stand are of a similar age.
*Notice how the fire burns differently than in a ponderosa pine forest where it stays on the ground. In lodgepole forests, many if not most of the trees will be killed, but their specially adapted cones will plant new seedlings after the fire has passed.
Grows in dry areas of the montane
Long, slender trunk
Needles occur in pairs
Soft Wood – furniture and plywood
First to grow back after fire

11. Aspen Trees Trees lose their leaves in the fall
Very Fertile Soils Beneath Aspen
Leaves “quake” or “tremble” in the wind
Most trees in an area are from one root.
Grows well after fire
Emphasize that aspen trees do lose their leaves in the fall and are deciduous. Introduce the terms deciduous and coniferous. Deciduous means that a plant loses its leaves at the end of growing season. Coniferous plants do not lose their leaves at the end of the growing season and usually have cones to bear seeds. Also, coniferous plants usually have needle-shaped or scale-like leaves.
Aspen trees grow well after fires because new trees can sprout from underground root systems, which are not damaged during most fires. Aspens are often clones of one individual because of the connected root systems.
A worksheet question is based on this slide.
5. True or False. Aspen trees in the montane life zone do not lose their leaves in the fall.
False

12. Columbine Indian Paintbrush State flower of Colorado!
Columbine in the state flower of Colorado. Indian paintbrush is semi-parasitic, its roots take up nutrients by attaching to the roots of other plants.
State flower of Colorado!

13. What kinds of animals live in the Montane?
Ask the question to students.

14. Golden mantled ground squirrel
The winters are very long for such small animals. Have students name some ways in which the animals adapt to the harsh climate such as hibernation, burrowing underground, storing food. Golden mantled ground squirrels puts on a layer of fat to help it survive during hibernation (a long period of inactivity or dormancy, “sleeping”) in the winter. The squirrel’s varied diet includes seeds, nuts, and fruits; these are supplemented by green vegetation and insects, as well as by large quantities of subterranean fungi, which it locates by smell and digs out. The golden mantled ground squirrel carries food in its well-developed cheek pouches to its den to be stored and eaten in spring when it awakens.
How does the golden mantled ground squirrel survive the long, cold winters in its Montane habitat?

15. Black Bears Black bear dens
Black bears are solitary except for the close bond between mother and cubs. Black bears are omnivores,they eat both plants and animals, they love berries and insects. These bears are shy and don’t generally don’t attack people! Black bears can smell and hear well, but can’t see well, they can quickly climb trees, run up to 55km/hr, and swim across lakes. Warning: Keep your trash in bear proof containers!

16. ELK Can you tell the difference between the antlers?
Also called Wapiti which means White Rump. Elk are social animals that live in herds. They eat vegetation and sometimes overgraze the aspen trees. Males have very large antlers which are covered in velvet in the summer. Velvet is a covering of antlers which provides nutrition to help the antlers grow. Elk are hunted for their good meat and attractive antlers. See slide 31 on elk in the foothills for more information.
Willows
Some of their favorite foods are willow and aspen bark.
Aspen

17. Gray Jay
Gray jays live in mountains all year, alone or in pair. These birds eat insects and leftovers from picnics, are inquisitive and playful, and hop when on the ground.
Stellar’s Jay