Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 20 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
This chapter has been modified from original material published in Soulard (2006), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5288). The Central Basin and Range Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) encompasses approximately 343,169 km² (132,498 mi2) of land bordered on the west by the Sierra Nevada Ecoregion, on the east by the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Ecoregion, on the north by the Northern Basin and Range and the Snake River Basin Ecoregions, and on the south by the Mojave Basin and Range and the Colorado Plateaus Ecoregions (fig. 1). Most of the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion is located in Nevada (65.4 percent) and Utah (25.1 percent), but small segments are also located in Idaho (5.6 percent), California (3.7 percent), and Oregon (0.2 percent). Basin-and-range topography characterizes the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: wide desert valleys are bordered by parallel mountain ranges generally oriented northsouth. There are more than 33 peaks within the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion that have summits higher than 3,000 m (10,000 ft), but valleys in the ecoregion are also high, most having elevations above 1,200 m (4,000 ft) (Grayson, 1993).
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2012 |
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Title | Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 20 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000 |
DOI | 10.3133/pp179420A |
Authors | Christopher E. Soulard |
Publication Type | Report |
Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Series Title | Professional Paper |
Series Number | 1794-A-20 |
Index ID | pp179420A |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Western Geographic Science Center |