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Chihuahuan Deserts

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

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This desert ecoregion extends from the Madrean Archipelago (79) in southeast Arizona to the Edwards Plateau (30) in south-central Texas. It is the northern portion of the southernmost desert in North America that extends more than 500 miles south into Mexico. It is generally a continuation of basin and range terrain that is typical of the Mojave Basin and Range (14) and Sonoran Basin and Range (81) ecoregions to the west, although the pattern of alternating mountains and valleys is not as pronounced. The mountain ranges are a geologic mix of Tertiary volcanic and intrusive granitic rocks, Paleozoic sedimentary layers, and some Precambrian granitic plutonic rocks. Outside the major river drainages, such as the Rio Grande and Pecos River in New Mexico and Texas, the landscape is largely internally drained. Vegetative cover is predominantly desert grassland and arid shrubland, except for high elevation islands of oak, juniper, and pinyon pine woodland. The extent of desert shrubland is increasing across lowlands and mountain foothills due to gradual desertification caused in part by historical grazing pressure.

— EPA

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