Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Sagebrush steppe is a diverse habitat, with more than 350 recorded vertebrate species. It is also open rangeland for livestock, a recreation area, and a water source in otherwise arid regions. [3] It is key habitat for declining flora and fauna species, such as greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus ...
Big sagebrush is a coarse, many-branched, pale-grey shrub with yellow flowers and silvery-grey foliage, which is generally 0.5–3 metres (1 + 1 ⁄ 2 –10 feet) tall. [3] A deep taproot 1–4 m (3 + 1 ⁄ 2 –13 ft) in length, coupled with laterally spreading roots near the surface, allows sagebrush to gather water from both surface precipitation and the water table several meters beneath.
The result of the Red Desert's unique ecology is that wildlife is varied. Predators such as coyotes and the occasional mountain lion, swift fox, and kit fox are attracted by the area's mammals for feed. Pocket gophers, badgers, sage grouse, sage sparrows, and the sage thrasher are associated with the sagebrush habitat.
In the 19th century, Oregon's high desert area was called the Great Sandy Desert (a misnomer, as there is very little sand in the region), the Rolling Sage Plain, and the Artemisia Desert. Over the years, the region has also been known as Oregon's Empty Quarter , the Great Wide Open , and Oregon's Cowboy Country .
Ecotones between the shrub steppe and mountain forests may occur as high as 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in some areas. Between mountain ranges, this ecoregion grades into the Northern short grasslands to the east and in a very small portion to the north, the Colorado Plateau shrublands to the south, and the Great Basin shrub steppe in a very small ...
Artemisia tridentata ("big sagebrush") Leaves and flowers of Artemisia tridentata Artemisia pygmaea. Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus Artemisia.
In the Intermountain West, in a habitat known as Sagebrush Steppe, A. tridentata, A. tripartite, and A. arbuscula grow alongside various grasses and species of bitter bush, creating an important environment for mule deer, pygmy rabbits, antelopes, and the sage grouse. [28]
Sagebrush steppe ecosystems occur in Nevada and parts of Utah, Oregon, Idaho, and California. Its western edge is defined by the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range, and its eastern edge is the Wasatch Mountains. The northern boundary is the Snake river, and its southern boundary is defined by the Mojave Desert in California.