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Chihuahuan Basins and Playas

Ecoregion in Chihuahuan Desert in AZ, NM, Chihuahua, TX, Coahuila

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Found mostly in New Mexico and Texas, the Chihuahuan Basins and Playas include alluvial fans, internally drained basins, and river valleys that are mostly below 4500 feet. The major Chihuahuan basins formed during the Tertiary Basin and Range tectonism, when the Earth’s crust stretched and fault collapse resulted in sediment-filled basins. These low elevation areas are hot and arid and often have alkaline soils. The region’s only occurrence in Arizona is in the lower areas of the Safford Basin along the Gila River, at about 2600 to 3500 feet in elevation. This area lacks the playas that are found in parts of Ecoregion 24a to the east in New Mexico and Texas. This part of the Safford Basin is sometimes included with the Sonoran Desert, but it is generally too cold for the indicative plant species that are typical of Sonoran basins further west in Ecoregion 81l. Desert shrubs and grasses here include the dominant creosotebush, along with tarbush, fourwing saltbush, acacias, black grama, alkali sacaton, and a few low cacti such as pricklypear.

— EPA

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