Great Basin Desert

The Great Basin Desert is a cold desert in the western United States, spanning much of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range.

Great Basin: An endorheic region of the western United States where water does not drain to the ocean. The desert occupies much of this internally drained basin.
Cold desert: A desert with low precipitation and cold winters, often receiving some moisture as snow. The Great Basin is classified by its cold winters as well as its dryness.
Bonneville Salt Flats: A vast salt-encrusted playa in Utah, formed within the ancient Lake Bonneville basin. It illustrates how water and evaporation shape the desert’s basin floors.
Sagebrush ecosystem: A western North American ecosystem dominated by sagebrush and associated grasses, shrubs, and wildlife. Much of the desert’s habitat belongs to this ecosystem.
Climate change in the Great Basin: The effects of long-term climate warming and altered precipitation on the Great Basin’s environments and communities. Warming may alter snowpack, drought, and ecological conditions across the desert.
Rain shadow: A dry region on a mountain range’s leeward side, where descending air limits precipitation. The Sierra Nevada blocks much Pacific moisture from reaching the desert.
Sierra Nevada: A mountain range in California and Nevada that forms the western edge of the Great Basin. Its crest marks the desert’s western boundary and creates a major rain shadow.
Great Salt Lake Desert: An arid region of western Utah surrounding the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. It is a prominent low-elevation landscape within the desert.
Greater sage-grouse: A large grouse of western North America that depends on sagebrush habitats for food and shelter. Its habitat needs make sagebrush loss a regional conservation concern.
Colorado River Compact: A 1922 agreement allocating Colorado River water among U.S. states and Mexico. Its allocation system contrasts with the Great Basin’s largely separate, closed drainage.

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