The landscape shown here is part of a vast and ecologically diverse ecoregion known as the Chiuahuan Desert. In the second image, a map shows its expansive territory, which encompasses about 250,000 square miles (647,500 km), making it the largest desert in North America.
An unusual feature of this very young ecoregion (only about 9,000 years old) is the way the overall desert basin is punctuated by small mountain ranges and elevated plateaus. Much of the Chihuahuan Desert is also at a high elevation. All these elements have led to a desert ecology with a summer rain monsoon season and colder winters than most deserts.
The flora of this area is distinct, with about 1,000 of its 3,500 plant species unique to the region. Yucca plants, agave, and and the creosote bush are found in abundance, and a great variety of animals have made this desert their home. In isolated springs and closed basins live about 110 types of fish, many of them “relic species” from years long ago.
Source(s): Nps.gov/im/chdn/ecoregion.htm. Wikipedia.
