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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 ...
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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.
The Catlow Valley topography provides a number of wildlife habitats. These include seasonal lakes, marshes, riparian areas, grasslands, sage steppe, dry juniper forests, and rimrock. The valley is predominantly high-desert grassland with gently rolling hills to the north, west, and south of the valley floor.
Sagebrush scrub occurs in relatively deep soils along the Sierra-Cascade axis, running from Modoc County to San Bernardino County. [4]In the Sierra Nevada range, in California, sagebrush associates include bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), curl-leaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius), and rabbitbrushes (Chrysothamnus spp., Ericameria spp.). [1]