The Arizona/New Mexico Plateau represents a large transitional region between the drier shrublands and wooded higher relief tablelands of the Colorado Plateaus (20) in the north, the lower, hotter, less vegetated Mojave Basin and Range (14) in the west, and the semiarid grasslands of the Southwestern Tablelands (26) to the east. Higher, forest-covered mountainous ecoregions border the region on the northeast (21) and south (23). Local relief in the region varies from a few feet on plains and mesa tops to well over 1000 feet along tableland side slopes. The region extends across northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and into the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Gunnison prairie dogs are a keystone species in many of the sagebrush ecosystems [...]
Summary
The Arizona/New Mexico Plateau represents a large transitional region between the drier shrublands and wooded higher relief tablelands of the Colorado Plateaus (20) in the north, the lower, hotter, less vegetated Mojave Basin and Range (14) in the west, and the semiarid grasslands of the Southwestern Tablelands (26) to the east. Higher, forest-covered mountainous ecoregions border the region on the northeast (21) and south (23). Local relief in the region varies from a few feet on plains and mesa tops to well over 1000 feet along tableland side slopes. The region extends across northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and into the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Gunnison prairie dogs are a keystone species in many of the sagebrush ecosystems and their burrows provide habitat for other wildlife including burrowing owls, weasels, badgers, and a variety of snakes.
