Sierra Nevada Ecoregion: Chapter 15 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 Raumann and Soulard (2007), entitled “Land-cover trends of the Sierra Nevada Ecoregion, 1973–2000” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5011). The Sierra Nevada Ecoregion covers approximately 53,413 km² (20,623 mi²) with the majority of the area (98 percent) in California and the remainder in Nevada (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). The Sierra Nevada Ecoregion is generally oriented north-south and is essentially defined by the Sierra Nevada physiographic province, which separates California’s Central Valley to the west from the Great Basin to the east. It is bounded by seven other ecoregions: Southern and Central California Chaparral and Oak Woodlands Ecoregion on the west; Klamath Mountains and Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Ecoregions on the north; Southern California Mountains Ecoregion on the south; and Northern Basin and Range, Central Basin and Range, and Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregions on the east (fig. 1). The Sierra Nevada range is a granitic batholith, much of which is exposed at higher elevations, with a gradual western slope and a generally steep eastern escarpment.