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Central Nevada High Valleys

Ecoregion in Great Basin, NV

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The Central Nevada High Valleys ecoregion contains sagebrush-covered rolling valleys that are generally over 5,000 feet in elevation. Alluvial fans spilling from surrounding mountain ranges fill the valleys, often leaving little intervening flat ground. Wyoming big sagebrush and associated grasses are common on the flatter areas, and black sagebrush dominates on the volcanic hills and alluvial fans. Ecoregion 13r tends to have a lower species diversity than many other sagebrush-dominated ecoregions (including Ecoregions 13c, 13m, 13p, 13aa, 80a, and 80g) because of its aridity and its isolation from more species-rich areas. Saline playas may occur on available flats. Less shadscale and fewer associated shrubs surround these playas than in other lower, more arid ecoregions to the west, including the Lahontan Salt Shrub Basin (13j) and Tonopah Basin (13u). Valleys with permanent water support endemic fish species, such as the Monitor Valley speckled dace.

— EPA

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