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Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion: Chapter 28 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

Professional Paper 1794-A-28
This publication is Chapter 28 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000, which is Volume A in Status and trends of land change in the United States--1973 to 2000, PP 1794. Volume A consists of 30 chapters. For access to other chapters, please visit PP 1794-A.
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1794A28

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Abstract

The Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997), also known as the “Madrean Sky Islands” or “Sky Islands,” covers an area of approximately 40,536 km2 (15,651 mi2) in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico (fig. 1). The ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Sonoran Basin and Range Ecoregion, on the east by the Chihuahuan Deserts Ecoregion, and on the north by the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Ecoregion. This area of basin-and-range topography is one of the most biologically diverse in the world (Koprowski, 2005; Skroch, 2008). Although the mountains in the ecoregion bridge the Rocky Mountains to the north and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico to the south (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997), the lower elevations act as a barrier to species dispersal. Nevertheless, the geographic convergence of these two major continental mountain ranges, as well as of the Chihuahuan Desert to the east and the Sonoran Desert to the west, forms the foundation for ecological interactions found nowhere else on Earth (Skroch, 2008).

Suggested Citation

Ruhlman, J., Gass, L., Middleton, B., 2012, Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion: Chapter 28 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1794-A-28, Chapter 28: 8 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1794A28.

ISSN: 2330-7102 (online)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion: Chapter 28 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Series title Professional Paper
Series number 1794-A-28
DOI 10.3133/pp1794A28
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Western Geographic Science Center
Description Chapter 28: 8 p.
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000: Volume A in Status and trends of land change in the United States--1973 to 2000 (PP 1794-A)
First page 285
Last page 292
Country United States
State Arizona;New Mexico
Additional publication details