Desert Laboratory

Desert Laboratory
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Nearest city:	1675 West Anklam Road, Tucson, Arizona
Coordinates:	32°13′31″N 111°0′9″W / 32.22528°N 111.0025°W / 32.22528; -111.0025Coordinates: 32°13′31″N 111°0′9″W / 32.22528°N 111.0025°W / 32.22528; -111.0025
Area:	860 acres (3.5 km2)
Built:	1903
Governing body:	State
NRHP Reference#:	66000190
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL:	December 21, 1965[2]

The Desert Laboratory at 1675 West Anklam Road, Tucson, Arizona was founded by the Carnegie Institution in 1903 to better understand how plants adapted to arid desert environments. Numerous long term ecological experiments were created on the 860 acres (3.5 km²) around Tumamoc Hill. The facility and staff were key contributors to what is now considered the science of ecology, including participating in the creation of the Ecological Society of America in 1915 and the Ecology journal.^[3]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.^[2],^[4]

History

Acting on the authority of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Frederick Vernon Coville Botanist of the USDA and Daniel T. McDougal of the New York Botanical Garden chose Tumamoc Hill as the location of the Desert Laboratory in February, 1903. It opened in October of that year.

It is now operated by Tumamoc: People & Habitats, part of the University of Arizona's College of Science.

Directors

Its current director is Michael Rosenzweig^[5]

Hiking Trail

Currently, the public is allowed to walk up to the top of Tumamoc hill, but there has been some vandalism^[2] which has led to discussion of closing the area to the public.^[6]

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} ResourceId=102&ResourceType=Building "Desert Laboratory". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm? ResourceId=102&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
3. ^ Description of research at Desert Laboratory
4. ^ Ann Huston (September 1986) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Desert Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution / Tumamoc Hill, National Park Service and Accompanying 8 photos, exterior, from 1986.
5. ^ Desert Laboratory Director Honored by Ecological Society of America
6. ^ Desert Lab may shut Tumamoc to hikers

"Discovering the Desert: The Legacy of the Carnegie Desert Botanical Laboratory" by William G. McGinnies, 276 pp, 1981 ISBN 9780816507283

External links

• Official Site
• Description of research at Desert Laboratory
• Desert Laboratory Repeat Photography Collection
• NYtimes article about the creation of the laboratory
• JSTOR article
• Harpers Magazine 1911 article (subscribers only)