Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion

Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion
Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion
	The Arizona/New Mexico Mountains (23), monotypic ecoregion of the Temperate Sierras

The Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico.

Description

The region is a transition region from the lower elevation Sonoran Desert (81) to the southwest and Chihuahuan Desert (24) southeast; the west is bordered by the mid-elevation Mojave Desert (14).

The north is bordered by the east–west Arizona/New Mexico Plateau (22), ecoregion which is part of and is the southern region of the Colorado Plateau. The north region of the Colorado Plateau covers eastern Utah/western Colorado and is the Colorado Plateaus (ecoregion) (20). The extreme southern perimeter of the Colorado Plateaus ecoregion extends east–west along the border regions of Arizona-New Mexico.

Arizona section

The Arizona section is bordered on the north, and center by regions of the Mogollon Rim, extending on the east into western New Mexico. It is named the Arizona transition zone^[1] and contains the following mountains:

Central mountain ranges

Western region ranges

Eastern region ranges

Big Lue Mountains
Black Hills (Greenlee County)
Blackjack Mountains
Gila Mountains (Graham County)
Hayes Mountains
Mescal Mountains, Arizona
Natanes Mountains
Pinal Mountains
Salt River Mountains (Gila County)
Santa Teresa Mountains
Sevenmile Mountains, Arizona
Sierra Aguilada-(New Mexico)
White Mountains (Arizona)-(central-southern regions)

In Arizona, two outlier regions are also considered as part of the ecoregion, the Kaibab Plateau, (the North Rim of the Grand Canyon), and the Chuska Mountains region of the northeast of Northern Arizona.

New Mexico section

The New Mexico section contains the mountain ranges that extend eastwards into western New Mexico from the Arizona transition zone. The White Mountains subregion of eastern Arizona is a high altitude area extending into about ten ranges of western-(central) New Mexico, and west of the Rio Grande. East of the Rio Grande and extending southeast is a monolithic section of mountains, mostly the Sacramento Mountains but extending southeast into the Guadalupe Mountains.

In the central-north, east of the Rio Grande another monolithic section is made of the Sandia-Manzano Mountains. West of the Rio Grande extending northwest towards the Chuskas, on the Arizona-New Mexico border, are other outlier ranges considered part of the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecosystem.

References

^ Luchhitta, Ivo (2001). Hiking Arizona's Geology, Part 2, "Map Graphic": "Arizona Transition Zone", pp. 143–145 (and Hikes: 18-26, pp. 145–182.) ISBN 0-89886-730-4

33°N 110°W / 33°N 110°W / 33; -110

[1] Luchhitta, Ivo (2001). Hiking Arizona's Geology, Part 2, "Map Graphic": "Arizona Transition Zone", pp. 143–145 (and Hikes: 18-26, pp. 145–182.) ISBN 0-89886-730-4

[1]

v t e Level III Ecoregions in the United States
Marine West Coast Forest	1 Coast Range 2 Puget Lowland 3 Willamette Valley 111 Ahklun and Kilbuck Mountains 113 Alaska Peninsula Mountains 115 Cook Inlet 119 Pacific Coastal Mountains 120 Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Forests
Northwestern Forested Mountains	4 Cascades 5 Sierra Nevada 9 Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills 11 Blue Mountains 15 Northern Rockies 16 Idaho Batholith 17 Middle Rockies 19 Wasatch and Uinta Mountains 21 Southern Rockies 41 Canadian Rockies 77 North Cascades 78 Klamath Mountains 105 Interior Highlands 116 Alaska Range 117 Copper Plateau 118 Wrangell Mountains
Mediterranean California	6 Southern and Central California Chaparral and Oak Woodlands 7 Central California Valley 8 Southern California Mountains
North American Deserts	10 Columbia Plateau 12 Snake River Plain 13 Central Basin and Range 14 Mojave Basin and Range 18 Wyoming Basin 20 Colorado Plateaus 22 Arizona/New Mexico Plateau 24 Chihuahuan Deserts 80 Northern Basin and Range 81 Sonoran Basin and Range
Temperate Sierras	23 Arizona/New Mexico Mountains
Great Plains	25 Western High Plains 26 Southwestern Tablelands 27 Central Great Plains 28 Flint Hills 29 Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains (Cross Timbers) 30 Edwards Plateau 31 Southern Texas Plains 34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain 40 Central Irregular Plains 42 Northwestern Glaciated Plains 43 Northwestern Great Plains 44 Nebraska Sand Hills 45 Piedmont 46 Northern Glaciated Plains 47 Western Corn Belt Plains 48 Lake Agassiz Plain
Eastern Temperate Forest	32 Texas Blackland Prairies 33 East Central Texas Plains 35 South Central Plains 36 Ouachita Mountains 37 Arkansas Valley 38 Boston Mountains 39 Ozark Highlands 51 North Central Hardwood Forests 52 Driftless Area 53 Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains 54 Central Corn Belt Plains 55 Eastern Corn Belt Plains 56 Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains 57 Huron/Erie Lake Plains 59 Northeastern Coastal Zone 60 Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands 61 Erie Drift Plain 63 Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain 64 Northern Piedmont 65 Southeastern Plains 66 Blue Ridge 67 Ridge and Valley 68 Southwestern Appalachians 69 Central Appalachians 70 Western Allegheny Plateau 71 Interior Plateau 72 Interior River Valleys and Hills 73 Mississippi Alluvial Plain 74 Mississippi Valley Loess Plains 75 Southern Coastal Plain 82 Laurentian Plains and Hills 83 Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands 84 Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens
Northern Forests	49 Northern Minnesota Wetlands 50 Northern Lakes and Forests 58 Northeastern Highlands 62 North Central Appalachians
Tropical Wet Forests	76 Southern Florida Coastal Plain
Southern Semi-Arid Highlands	79 Madrean Archipelago
Taiga	101 Arctic Coastal Plain 102 Arctic Foothills 103 Brooks Range 104 Interior Forested Lowlands and Uplands 106 Interior Bottomlands 107 Yukon Flats 108 Ogilvie Mountains
Tundra	109 Subarctic Coastal Plains 110 Seward Peninsula 112 Bristol Bay-Nushagak Lowlands 114 Aleutian Islands
as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency [1]