North American Deserts

The North American Deserts present a diverse assemblage of plants and animals that reflect regional differences in elevation, temperature, and rainfall. There are four major deserts in North America (with many subdivisions), each with a distinctive character. From northwest to southeast, these deserts are the Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts. Las Vegas is located in the northeastern portion of the Mojave Desert, a region influenced by the Sonoran Desert to the southeast and the Great Basin Desert to the north. The Chihuahuan desert, primarily a Mexican desert, lies far to the southeast and does not influence the Las Vegas region.

Link to images and more information on the four North American Deserts.

Link directly to index of species pages.

Life Zones and the Vegetation Around Las Vegas

Early ecologists recognized that vegetation changes in predictable ways as we move from hot, lower-elevation sites to cool, higher-elevation sites. They developed the Concept of Life Zones, and although modern ecologists consider it simplistic, these pioneering efforts are useful if we allow the idea of an overall pattern imposed on a local mosaic of weather patterns, soils, plants, and animals. In the Las Vegas Area, the six Life Zones are represented by seven major vegetation associations.