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Bishop Volcanic Tableland

Ecoregion in Great Basin, CA

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The Bishop Volcanic Tableland ecoregion occurs just north of the town of Bishop and Upper Owens Valley in Inyo and Mono Counties. The gently to moderately sloping tableland of volcanic rhyolite and tuff ranges in elevation from about 4,200 to 6,600 feet, with relief mostly 200–800 feet. The landscape was formed more than 700,000 years ago when volcanic materials spewed from the Long Valley Caldera to the northwest. The welded Bishop Tuff has a depth of more than 140 feet, and the nutrient-poor soils are very shallow and well-drained, with rocky and loamy soil textures. Soil temperature regimes are mostly thermic and soil moisture regimes are aridic. Vegetation is mostly shadscale and blackbrush, with some Indian ricegrass and desert needlegrass, and a variety of desert forbs. Annual precipitation is 6–7 inches. A few intermittent streams trend southwest across the region, with runoff draining to the Owens River. The Owens River Gorge traverses the southwestern part of the tableland. Recreation has become an important land use on the BLM public lands, including bouldering and rock-climbing.

— EPA

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