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85-612: The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe ecoregion ) of lava beds and playa , or alkali flats , situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area , a silt playa 100 miles (160 km) north of Reno, Nevada , that encompasses more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of land and contains more than 120 miles (200 km) of historic trails. It

170-618: A desert ecoregion between the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Range, naming it the "Northern Basin and Range" ecoregion. In 1999, the U.S. EPA renamed the "Northern Basin and Range" the "Central Basin and Range" and the "(Snake River) High Desert" the "Northern Basin and Range". The World Wildlife Fund adopted the Basin and Range ecoregions from Omernik, but excised a small region of high-altitude areas which contain Holocene refugia , from

255-414: A limestone or dolomite substrate affects regional vegetation, particularly in terms of species dominance and elevational distribution. The substrate favors shrubs, such as black sagebrush and winterfat , that can tolerate shallow soil. Even in alluvial soils, root growth may be limited by a hardpan or caliche layer formed by carbonates leaching through the soil and accumulating. As a result, shrub cover

340-525: A max altitude of 75 miles (121 km). The rocket experienced a catastrophic failure 3.5 seconds into the flight at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet (3,000 m). If successful, Traveler would have been the first university/student-designed and built rocket to exceed the 62.14-mile (100.00 km) Kármán line required to claim a space flight. RPL's second attempt, Traveler II, flew in May 2014. It also failed catastrophically, approximately one second into

425-611: A mixture of shrubs and herbaceous plants, often with nearly bare ground. These characteristics have led this zone to be named the "pygmy forest" by many scientists. The lower end of this zone is dominated by juniper; the middle is a combination of both species, and the upper end is dominated by pinyon. The taller ranges of the Great Basin desert have a montane community. Due to the great distances created by basins between these small forest habitats, various rock substrates, and local climates, montane forests are tremendously varied across

510-408: A particular mountain peak or range and are found only in that one place. Grasses , sedges , low perennial herbs, and wildflowers grow above treeline. The riparian communities of the Great Basin desert cut across all elevations and life zones. In the Great Basin desert surface water is rapidly lost by evaporation or infiltration. However, areas around streams where plant life is abundant constitute

595-831: A playa. In areas of the lakebed along mountains, rain shadow results in desert precipitation levels. The playa of the Black Rock Desert lakebed is ~200 sq mi (520 km) within an area bounded by the Calico Mountains Wilderness (north), Gerlach (west), the Applegate National Historic Trail (northeast), and the Union Pacific Railroad (south). The "South Playa" (~30 sq mi, with ~13 sq mi (34 km) in Washoe County)

680-529: A riparian area. Water-loving plants like willow , narrowleaf cottonwood , choke cherry , wild rose , and aspen are found along these wet areas. The willow has a spreading root network that allows it to reach all around for water and it also helps streams by slowing erosion. These plants provide wood for beavers . In this community, silver buffaloberry often provides shelter for North American porcupines . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines its Central Basin and Range ecoregion as Level III: it

765-420: A series of art installations that include aphorisms and the names of local residents carved in to rocks. Larger installations such as "Ground Zero", Elvis, Imagination Station – Desert Broadcasting System (where the windows are TV frames with different panoramas) are also present. The first "Balls" rocket event was held at the desert in 1993, and in 1998, the first annual Gerlach Dash glider race from Reno to

850-801: A transition to sagebrush ( Artemisia ) and grasses just above the shadscale zone. This expanse, called the sagebrush zone, constitutes the largest amount of land in the desert (38.7 percent) and is dominated by big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata ) shrubland. The sagebrush zone occurs on the lower mountain slopes, alluvial fans , and bajadas . Areas in this zone that have wetter and less saline soils are dominated by big sagebrush . Low sagebrush or black sagebrush dominate areas with steep rocky slopes and shallow soils. Introduced annual grasses such as cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum ) and halogeton ( Halogeton glomeratus ) also characterize this zone, although native bunchgrasses once thrived amongst sagebrush. Historical fire suppression, adjusted fire frequency following

935-714: Is a continuation of the Lahontan Basin , while the lower and hotter Pahranagat Valley on the east side is more like the Mojave Desert. Similar to basins further north, shadscale and associated arid land shrubs cover broad rolling valleys, hills, and alluvial fans. However, unlike the Lahontan salt shrub basin and Upper Lahontan basin, the shrubs often co-dominate in highly diverse mosaics . The shrub understory includes warm-season grasses, such as Indian ricegrass and galleta grass . Endemic fish species, including

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1020-471: Is adjacent and above the sagebrush zone. The main plants in this community are singleleaf pinyon pine and Utah juniper , often with a sagebrush and bitterbrush understory. Other species of junipers also occur in this zone, including Juniperus communis and Juniperus occidentalis . The elevational range of this zone varies, but it is usually found between 6,000 and 8,000 feet (1,800 and 2,400 m), with lower limits determined by lack of moisture and

1105-699: Is an expansive dry plain that was once below Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. The Lahontan Basin , compared to the Bonneville Basin to the east, is lower in elevation and warmer in winter. Although there is a direct connection to the south to the Mojave Desert , winters are cold enough in this ecoregion to discourage the northward dispersal of Mojavean species into the Lahontan Basin. In addition to shadscale , other salt-tolerant shrubs, such as Shockley's desert-thorn and Bailey greasewood , cover

1190-594: Is at the third level of a tree of ecoregions that cover North America. It further defines sub-ecoregions at Level IV, which describe differences in the ecoregion at different locations. The map shows the Level IV EPA ecoregions in Nevada. The low-elevation ecoregions lie in the Great Basin shrub steppe, while the high-elevation ones lie in the Great Basin montane forests (as defined by the WWF). The Salt desert ecoregion

1275-633: Is between Gerlach and the southwest boundary of the National Conservation Area (NCA), while the northeast NCA portion of the playa (including ~25 sq mi (65 km) in Humboldt County) is between the NCA boundary and the Applegate National Historic Trail . A Nobles route between Gerlach and Black Rock Hot Springs extends through the length of the playa. The playa's Quinn River Sink of ~3 sq mi (7.8 km)

1360-543: Is composed of nearly level playas , salt flats , mud flats , and saline lakes . These features are characteristic of the Bonneville Basin : they have a higher salt content than those of the Lahontan and Tonopah playas ecoregion, below. Water levels and salinity varies from year to year. During dry periods salt encrustation and wind erosion occur. Vegetation is mostly absent, although scattered salt-tolerant plants, such as pickleweed , iodinebush , black greasewood , and inland saltgrass occur. Soils are not arable and there

1445-598: Is dominated by mountain big sagebrush , serviceberry , snowberry , and low sagebrush . They contrast with the High-elevation Carbonate Mountains to the east, where the mountain brush zone is too narrow to be mapped as a separate ecoregion. Scattered groves of curlleaf mountain-mahogany and aspen in moister microsites grow above the shrub layer. A few scattered limber or bristlecone pines grow on ranges that exceed 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The Toiyabe Range (west of Big Smoky Valley )

1530-541: Is high enough to have an alpine zone, but lacks a suitable substrate to retain snowmelt moisture. The isolation of these "sky islands" has led to the development of many rare and endemic plant species. The Tonopah Basin lies in the transition between the Great Basin Desert and the more southerly Mojave Desert . The basin shows varying characteristics of both deserts. The west side of the Tonopah Basin

1615-435: Is in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan . The Great Basin, named for the geography in which water is unable to flow out and remains in the basin, is a rugged land serrated by hundreds of mountain ranges, dried by wind and sun, with spectacular skies and scenic landscapes. The average annual precipitation (in the years 1971–2000) at Gerlach (in

1700-669: Is little competition and reduced risk of fire. The trees grow very slowly, producing very dense, disease-resistant wood. These factors contribute to the bristlecone's long life. Some mountain ranges in the Great Basin desert are high enough to have an alpine community; a community of low growing plants above the treeline . Treeline is generally found above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the Great Basin desert, moving downslope with higher latitudes. The plants that grow above treeline are separated from other such areas by miles of foothills and valleys. This "island" phenomenon produces many endemic species - species that have evolved while isolated on

1785-481: Is mostly underlain by volcanic ash , rhyolite , and tuffaceous rocks . Low sagebrush is common in extensive areas of shallow, stony soil, as are cool season grasses, such as bluebunch wheatgrass , Idaho fescue , and Sandberg bluegrass . The ecoregion is wetter and cooler than other Nevada ecoregions in its elevation range. The ecoregion is transitional to the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion that spans

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1870-583: Is not as prevalent on the mountains of central Nevada as in other woodland ecoregions, such as ecoregions 13d and 13q. Pinyon- juniper grows only sparsely through the shrub layer due to combined effects of past fire, logging, and local climate factors, including lack of summer rain and the pattern of winter cold air inversions. Where extensive woodlands do exist, understory diversity tends to be very low, especially in closed canopy areas. Areas of black and Wyoming big sagebrush grade upward into mountain big sagebrush and curlleaf mountain-mahogany , which straddles

1955-458: Is part of the National Conservation Area (NCA), a unit of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The NCA is located in northwest Nevada and was established by legislation in 2000. It is a unique combination of the desert playa, narrow canyons, and mountainous areas. Humans have been in Black Rock Desert since approximately 10,000 B.P. Around 1300 CE,

2040-460: Is sparse in contrast to other sagebrush-covered ecoregions in Nevada. The grass understory grades from a dominance of cool season grasses, such as bluebunch wheatgrass , in the north, to warm season grasses, such as blue grama (an indicator of summer rainfall) in the south. The Central Nevada high valleys ecoregion contains sagebrush-covered rolling valleys that are generally over 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in elevation. Alluvial fans spilling from

2125-474: Is the climate of the high desert. The Great Basin desert climate begins with the Sierra Nevada in eastern California . Rising 14,000 feet (4,300 m) above sea level, this mountain range casts a large rain shadow over the desert. Weather coming in from the Pacific Ocean quickly loses its moisture as rain and snow as it is forced up and over the steep mountains. By the time it reaches the east side of

2210-504: Is the dominant shrub in more saline areas or where the water table is high. These shrubs and associated grasses typically produce abundant small seeds that are harvested by rodents and insects. The soil salinity and lack of moisture in this zone is not very conducive to most agriculture; however, livestock grazing and grain farming have historically contributed to a decline in the already scattered vegetation. The drop in soil salinity and increase in moisture as elevation increases leads to

2295-516: Is very limited grazing potential. The salt deserts provide wildlife habitat and serve some recreational, military, and industrial uses. A prime example of this ecoregion is the Bonneville Salt Flats . The Shadscale-dominated saline basins ecoregion is arid, internally drained and gently sloping to nearly flat. These basins are in, or are characteristic of, the Bonneville Basin : they are higher in elevation and colder in winter than

2380-592: Is where the Quinn River discharges/evaporates ~2.75 mi (4.43 km) south-southwest of Black Rock Hot Springs. Prospecting and mining have occurred in the Black Rock region since the mid-19th century. US Gypsum Corporation operated a gypsum mine and drywall manufacturing plant in Empire, which employed 107 people and produced 266,300 tons of gypsum in 2008. Allied Nevada Gold Corporation re-opened

2465-552: The Bureau of Land Management subsequently fenced "Double Hot". Jack Lee Harelson was fined $ 2.5 million in 2002 for archaeological looting of Elephant Mountain Cave. In 2010, the Bureau of Land Management Winnemucca District Office completed a roundup of 1,922 wild horses in the Calico Mountains Complex, of which 39 died of malnutrition due to overgrazing . From 1990 to 2019, and starting again in 2022,

2550-884: The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes and then south and southwest, receiving the Kings River flowing south from Kings River Valley . The Quinn River evaporates in a sink at the Black Rock Desert , south of the Black Rock Range . The Quinn River is the largest river in the region, starting in the Santa Rosa Range and ending in the Quinn River Sink on the playa south of the Black Rock Range . The watershed covers 11,600 sq mi (30,000 km ) including

2635-484: The Mojave and Sonoran , due to the region's higher elevation and latitude. Winters in this section of the basin are still cold, however. The Great Salt Lake Desert , located near the northeast corner of the Great Basin desert, is an excellent example of a cold desert climate . Although still arid, it is worthy to note that this portion of the desert receives more precipitation than the similar playas and salt pans on

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2720-605: The Railroad Valley tui chub , Pahranagat roundtail chub , Railroad Valley springfish , and the White River springfish are found in valleys with perennial water. The topography of the Great Basin desert ("island" mountain tops separated from one another by vast expanses of desert valleys) renders it vulnerable to extinctions. Populations that occupy the high peaks are isolated from one another; therefore, they cannot interbreed. Small populations are more vulnerable to

2805-508: The limestone substrate to surface as valley springs. Isolated valley drainages support endemic fish, such as the Newark Valley tui chub . The nearly level and often barren Lahontan and Tonopah playas contain mudflats , alkali flats , and intermittent saline lakes , such as the Black Rock Desert , Carson Sink , and Sarcobatus Flat . Marshes , remnant lakes and playas are all that remain of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan , which

2890-549: The " Chalfant , Hammil, Benton, and Queen valleys," as well as all but the southeast portion of the Owens Valley . Conversely, the " Panamint , Saline , and Eureka valleys" have creosote bush, unlike the Deep Springs Valley which includes part of the Great Basin scrub desert. The study and definition of ecoregions can also indicate the boundaries of the Great Basin Desert. In 1987 J.M. Omernik defined

2975-534: The Black Rock Desert playa has been the location for the Burning Man festival. Nevada State Route 447 is the area's main highway and connects Gerlach to SR 427 at Wadsworth, Nevada , near Interstate 80 . The desert's dirt roads are generally not usable in wet or snowy conditions. Old Highway 34 provides access to the playa on the west side and to the Hualapai Flat . Old Highway 48 (dirt) connects

3060-578: The Great Basin Desert is "encompassed within" that area. This article describes the general ecology of the region, including the high-elevation areas, and does not rely on minor differences in the definitions of the ecoregion or desert. See Great Basin montane forests for more specific details on the high-elevation ecoregion. The climate of the Great Basin desert is characterized by extremes: hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters; frigid alpine ridges and warm, windy valleys; days over 90 °F (32 °C) followed by nights near 40 °F (4 °C). This

3145-437: The Great Basin Desert vary according to altitude : from low salty dry lakes, up through rolling sagebrush valleys, to pinyon - juniper forests. The significant variation between valleys and peaks has created a variety of habitat niches which has in turn led to many small, isolated populations of genetically unique plant and animal species throughout the region. According to Grayson, more than 600 species of vertebrates live in

3230-599: The Hycroft Gold Mine in 2008 after acquiring it from Vista Gold Corp. Hycroft is an open-pit mining operation in the Kamma Mountains near Sulphur on the east side of the Black Rock Desert. An opal mine is at the base of the Calico Hills on the west side of the desert. Bones of the mammoths that roamed the area around 20,000 BCE have been recovered. In 1979, a fossilized Columbian mammoth

3315-625: The Lahontan salt shrub basin ecoregion to the west. Light-colored soils with high salt and alkali content occur and are dry for extended periods. The saltbush vegetation common to this ecoregion has a higher tolerance for extremes in temperature, aridity, and salinity than big sagebrush , which dominates ecoregion 13c at somewhat higher elevation. The basins in Nevada, in contrast to those in Utah, are more constricted in area and are more influenced by nearby mountain ranges with extensive carbonate rock exposures, which provide water by percolation through

3400-717: The Nevada-Oregon border. However, as in the warmer Lahontan Basin to the west, lightning fires are common and a post-fire monoculture of cheatgrass tends to replace the native grasses and shrubs. Grazing is the major land use, though there is some agriculture near the Humboldt River . The basins and semi-arid uplands of the Carbonate Sagebrush Valleys surround the carbonate ranges of eastern Nevada. These valleys are underlain by limestone or dolomite . The combination of summer moisture and

3485-641: The Queen River, is an intermittent river , approximately 110 miles (180 km) long, in the desert of northwestern Nevada in the United States. It drains an enclosed basin inside the larger Great Basin . It rises in northeastern Humboldt County , on the west side of the Santa Rosa Range , just south of the Oregon state line. Its course flows southwest, through the main Nevada lands of

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3570-527: The Upper and Lower Quinn River , Smoke Creek Desert , Massacre Lake, and Thousand Creek/Virgin Valley watersheds of northwestern Nevada as well as small parts across the borders of California and Oregon. If the playa is wet for a month or so, then the shallow waters teem with fairy shrimp, or anostraca born of eggs that lie dormant in the silt crust for long periods of time—sometimes for many years. The edges of

3655-409: The area ). Great Basin shrub steppe Basin and range topography characterizes the desert: wide valleys bordered by parallel mountain ranges generally oriented north–south. There are more than 33 peaks within the desert with summits higher than 9,800 feet (3,000 m), but valleys in the region are also high, most with elevations above 3,900 feet (1,200 m). The biological communities of

3740-440: The area also attract experimentation with rockets. The following are highlights of amateur rocketry records set at Black Rock: Other rocket launches attempting various altitude records or space flights have occurred at Black Rock. In May 1999, JP Aerospace used a rockoon (balloon-launched rocket) in an unsuccessful suborbital space flight attempt covered by CNN . The rocket reached 75,000 feet (23,000 m), far less than

3825-567: The area approximately 10,000 B.P., and a Frémont Expedition encountered the site in 1843, but the Fortieth Parallel Survey (1867) conducted the first official exploration. In the late 1840s, Peter Lassen led California Trail emigrants through the desert's Applegate-Lassen Cutoff , an arduous route that took them hundreds of miles away from the gold lands of California. By 1910, Western Pacific's Feather River Route ( Oakland to Salt Lake City ) had been completed across

3910-576: The area was settled by the Paiute people . The Desert's namesake large, black rock formation was used as a landmark by the Paiute and later emigrants crossing the area. The landmark is a conical outcrop composed of interbedded Permian marine limestone and volcanic rocks. At its base is a large hot spring and grassy meadow, which was an important place for those crossing the desert headed for California and Oregon . In 1843, John Frémont and his party were

3995-469: The basin floor, to a shrub community dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush and the endemic Lahontan sagebrush at higher elevations. Understory grasses increase the productivity towards the northeast, outside the rain shadow influence of the Sierra Nevada . The low hills and mountains of the Lahontan Basin experience frequent summer lightning and fire. The introduced cheatgrass tends to replace

4080-513: The desert formed by the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada that blocks moisture from the Pacific Ocean, while the Rocky Mountains create a barrier effect that restricts moisture from the Gulf of Mexico . Different locations in the desert have different amounts of precipitation depending on the strength of these rain shadows. The environment is influenced by Pleistocene lakes that dried after

4165-641: The desert was held. For its 30th anniversary in 1994, the Black Rock Press (University of Nevada, Reno) published a book of desert photographs. The Friends of the Black Rock/High Rock organized in 1999, and a National Conservation Area Act the next year created several protected areas of the desert. Also in 2000, Lisa O'Shea died seven days after being scalded in Double Hot Springs when she attempted to rescue two dogs, and

4250-518: The desert. Isolated from one mountain range to the next, montane communities in the region have long individual histories, each one affected differently by chance factors of migration over vast expanses of desert. Smaller communities are also vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change and to genetic drift. White fir , Douglas fir , and ponderosa pines are found in the middle elevations of some mountain ranges, while limber pine , subalpine fir , Engelmann spruce , and bristlecone pines occupy

4335-405: The east side of the lakebed on the "general route first explored by Lieutenant E.G. Beckwith in 1854". By 1927, the desert had been used for filming The Winning of Barbara Worth (the 2003 Mythbusters pilot episode was also filmed in the area). In World War II , 973 sq mi (2,520 km) of the Black Rock Desert was used for a USAAF aerial gunnery training range, and post-war,

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4420-549: The ecoregion. The Great Basin National Park , located in a central part of the Great Basin desert, provides perhaps the best example of a typical climate for the region. Fallon's climate is typical of lower elevations in the western part of the Great Basin desert. Located in the Forty Mile Desert , precipitation is rare, and summers are hot, though temperatures are more moderate than those in deserts like

4505-431: The extreme south-west of the desert) is 7.90 inches (200 mm). The region is notable for its paleogeologic features , as an area of 19th-century Emigrant Trails to California , as a venue for rocketry , and as an alternative to the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah for setting land speed records ( Mach 1.02 in 1997 ). It is also the location for the annual Burning Man event. The Black Rock Desert

4590-455: The first white men to cross the desert, and his trail was used by over half of the 22,000 gold seekers headed to California after 1849. In 1867, Hardin City , a short-lived silver mill town, was established (now a ghost town ). The Black Rock Desert region is in northwestern Nevada and the northwestern Great Basin . The playa extends for approximately 100 mi (160 km) northeast from

4675-566: The flight. More than ~15,000 years ago (15 tya), the Humboldt River flowed to the Smoke Creek–Black Rock Desert sub-basin, and during the recession of Lake Lahontan , the river diverted to the Carson Desert sub-basin . During the highest Lahontan water level (~12.7 kya), the lakebed was under about 500 ft (150 m) of water, under which sediment accumulated to form a flat lakebed. Great Basin tribes inhabited

4760-475: The floristic Great Basin, which has a similar areal footprint to the ecoregion. Sixty-three of these species have been identified as species of conservation concern due to contracting natural habitats (for example, Centrocercus urophasianus , Vulpes macrotis , Dipodomys ordii , and Phrynosoma platyrhinos ). The ecology of the desert varies across geography also. The desert's high elevation and location between mountain ranges influences regional climate:

4845-450: The forces of extinction - generally small populations have less genetic diversity and therefore a lesser ability to adapt to changing conditions. Groundwater pumping, road and home construction, grazing, and mining are all activities that alter habitat; as more habitat is affected, the threat of extinction increases. The Great Basin desert is home to many threatened and endangered species: Quinn River The Quinn River , once known as

4930-589: The former "Northern Basin and Range" ecoregion and renamed it the "Great Basin Shrub Steppe". Although the EPA had refined the boundaries of the Central Basin and Range ecoregion by 2003, when USGS geographer Christopher Soulard wrote his reports on the region, his maps used the 1999 boundary for the "Central Basin and Range", which is essentially the same as the "Great Basin Shrub Steppe". He states that

5015-416: The higher elevations, continuing to the upper tree line. Mountain mahogany often dominates drier, warmer south-facing slopes. Pure stands of aspen are also common in this community. The bristlecone pine is an important species that is indicative of the Great Basin desert. Bristlecones live a long time, some for thousands of years. The harsh areas they occupy are often devoid of other plant life, so there

5100-534: The intended Kármán Line to reach space. CSXT made unsuccessful space launch attempts in 2000 and 2002 before the successful 2004 space flight. JP Aerospace returned to the desert in 2009, launching an armchair to the edge of space for Space Chair , an advertisement for Toshiba electronic products. On September 21, 2013, the University of Southern California's Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (USCRPL) launched its first space shot attempt, Traveler, intended to achieve

5185-417: The introduction of annual grasses and widespread livestock grazing have contributed to contraction of the sagebrush zone. According to Noss, 99 percent of the sagebrush-grass zone has been damaged by livestock, with major damage in 30 percent of the zone. Other shrubs commonly found in the sagebrush zone are rabbitbrush , bitterbrush , snowberry , and Mormon tea (ephedra). The pinyon–juniper community

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5270-569: The last ice age: Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville . Each of these lakes left different amounts of salinity and alkalinity. The Great Basin Desert is defined by its animals and plants, yet the boundaries are unclear. Scientists have different definitions of the Great Basin Desert, which are often defined by negatives. J. Robert Macey defines the "Great Basin scrub desert as lacking creosote bush ." The Great Basin Desert includes several arid basins lacking Larrea tridentata (chaparral) such as

5355-457: The lower basin slopes. These shrubs distinguish the Lahontan salt shrub basin and the Tonopah Basin from other Nevada salt shrub ecoregions. Sand dunes may occur where windblown sand accumulates against a barrier; dune complexes support a specialized plant community and diverse small mammal populations. The Carson and Truckee Rivers , originating in the Sierra Nevada, provide water for irrigated farming. Riparian corridors along these rivers support

5440-400: The mountains, little moisture is left to bring to the desert. The rain shadow effect is more pronounced closer to the Sierra Nevada, with yearly precipitation in the Great Basin desert averaging 9 inches (230 mm) in the west and 12 inches (300 mm) inches in the east. Moisture that manages to reach the ecoregion tends to precipitate as rain and snow in higher elevations, primarily over

5525-589: The north region of the United States Navy 's Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range was in the Black Rock Desert area (the Black Rock Desert Gunnery Range had closed by 1964). In 1979, a fossilized Columbian Mammoth was found along the side of the lakebed. The Dooby Lane art installation was created by DeWayne "Doobie" Williams between 1978 and 1992. Guru Road, located about 2 miles north of Gerlach on Highway 34, consists of

5610-473: The northwest Nevada volcanic region , including two Black Rock Points (west and east) at the southern end of the Black Rock Range and which have dark Permian volcanic rocks similar to another Permian black diabase dike formation in Nevada. The portion of the Lake Lahontan lakebed in the Black Rock Desert is generally flat with Lahontan salt shrub vegetation, widely scattered hot springs , and

5695-416: The only trees found in this ecoregion. Hills, alluvial fans , and low mountains comprise the Lahontan sagebrush slopes ecoregion. These areas are rock controlled and their soils lack the fine lacustrine sediments that are found in lower parts of the Lahontan Basin. Because moisture increases and alkalinity decreases with elevation, the shrub community grades from the greasewood - shadscale community on

5780-491: The playa and the Quinn River Sink stay wet longer than the rest of the playa, which concentrates the fairy shrimp and migratory birds in those areas. More than 250 species of neo-tropical migrant birds and many other water birds stop in Black Rock–High Rock Country for varying lengths of time. When wet, especially in spring, the playa is a favorite place for these winged visitors to rest and feed. When it rains,

5865-403: The playa can become extremely sticky, bogging down four-wheel-drive vehicles. Some areas of the Black Rock are environmentally sensitive and closed to all vehicles. Nevada's Humboldt , Pershing , and Washoe Counties intersect in the Black Rock Desert. The following mountain ranges are within or border the Black Rock Desert region. The desert has numerous volcanic and geothermal features of

5950-517: The playa surface. Sometimes, terrain which can be seen from the playa is included. The widest definition of the Black Rock Desert region is the watershed of the basin that drains into the playa. The intermittent Quinn River is the largest river in the region, starting in the Santa Rosa Range and ending in the Quinn River Sink on the playa south of the Black Rock Range. The watershed covers 11,600 sq mi (30,000 km), including

6035-661: The playa to Lovelock , and Old Highway 49 (Jungo Road, dirt) provides access to the lakebed from the Sulphur and Jungo ghost towns. The Union Pacific Railroad Elko Subdivision runs along the lakebed's east side between Sulphur and Gerlach. The railroad was constructed in the early 1900s as the Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Route . Light aircraft have landed on the lakebed for events (the nearby Empire and Reno-Tahoe International Airports provide commercial service for

6120-538: The region's long, parallel mountains. Ultimately, any precipitation that falls within the desert fails to drain either to the Atlantic Ocean or to the Pacific Ocean (thus the term "basin"). Instead, precipitation drains to ephemeral or saline lakes via streams, or disappears via evaporation or absorption into the soil . The desert is the coldest of the deserts in North America. On any given day,

6205-474: The shrub community and provides fuel for recurrent fires. The Lahontan uplands are restricted to the highest elevations of the mountains ranges within the Lahontan salt shrub basin. Slopes vary in elevation from 6,400 to 8,800 feet (2,000 to 2,700 m) and are covered in sagebrush, grasses, and scattered Utah juniper . Pinyon grows with juniper on the Stillwater Range and on Fairview Peak in

6290-453: The soil type in any one area will determine exactly which plants will live there. Certain areas of the valley floors may harbor no life. These parched areas that flood periodically are called playas . On the shores of the playas, shadscale is the dominant plant, but is kept company by iodine bush , saltgrass , spiny hopsage , winterfat , four-winged saltbrush , and green rabbitbrush . Trees are not found in this community. Big greasewood

6375-480: The southeast portion of the Lahontan Basin, but it is otherwise absent from this ecoregion. Low sagebrush and black sagebrush grow to the mountaintops above the woodland zone. Cool-season grasses, including bluebunch wheatgrass , dominate the understory in the north, but are replaced by warm-season grasses, such as Indian ricegrass , in the south. The Upper Humboldt Plains ecoregion is an area of rolling plains punctuated by occasional buttes and low mountains. It

6460-559: The surrounding mountain ranges fill the valleys, often leaving little intervening flat ground. Wyoming big sagebrush and associated grasses are common on the flatter areas, and black sagebrush dominates on the volcanic hills and alluvial fans. This ecoregion tends to have lower species diversity than other sagebrush ecoregions, because of its aridity and isolation from more species-rich areas. Saline playas may occur on available flats. Less shadscale and fewer associated shrubs surround these playas than in other, lower more arid ecoregions in

6545-548: The towns of Gerlach and Empire , between the Jackson Mountains to the east and the Calico Hills to the west. The Black Rock Desert is separated into two arms by the Black Rock Range . It lies at an elevation of 3,907 ft (1,191 m) and has an area of about 1,000 sq mi (2,600 km). There are several possible definitions of the extent of the Black Rock Desert. Often, people refer only to

6630-399: The transition between this mid-elevation brushland and the mountain brush zone of the higher Central Nevada Bald Mountains. The Central Nevada Bald Mountains are dry and mostly treeless. Although they rise only 100 miles (160 km) east of the Sierra Nevada , they lack Sierra species due to the dry conditions. These barren-looking mountains are covered instead by dense mountain brush that

6715-442: The upper limits determined by temperature. The pinyon-juniper community consists of short evergreen trees that rarely grow over 20 feet in height. This zone of dense vegetation, made possible by thermal inversions and increased precipitation, is important to a wide variety of isolated animals that rely on this vegetation interface for survival (for example, Eutamias palmeri ). The trees are widely spaced and have an understory of

6800-551: The varied elevations. Heading from the valley bottoms to the mountain peaks one will encounter constantly changing combinations of plant and animal species making up some 200 distinct biological communities. These communities can be generally grouped into six general communities or "life zones". In the lower valley bottoms where mountain run off evaporates to create saline soils is the shadscale zone. Plants in this community are adapted to living with very little precipitation , high heat, and saline conditions. The amount of water and

6885-786: The weather across the Great Basin desert is variable. The region is extremely mountainous, and the temperatures vary depending on the elevation. In general, temperature decreases 3.6 degrees F for every 1000 feet gained in elevation. This translates to as much as a 30 °F (17 °C) difference between mountaintops and valley floors on the same day at the same time. In the heat of summer this difference can be even more pronounced. With some exceptions wind generally increases with elevation or altitude and thus strong winds are often encountered on mountain tops and ridges. This dry climate and rugged topography proves too harsh for many plant and animal species; however, genetic adaptations to these conditions have led to reasonably high species richness within

6970-479: The west, including the Lahontan salt shrub ecoregion and the Tonopah Basin ecoregion. Valleys with permanent water support endemic fish populations, such as the Monitor Valley speckled dace . The Central Nevada mid-slope woodland and brushland ecoregion at 6,500 to 8,000 feet (2,000 to 2,400 m) of elevation is analogous in altitudinal range to other woodland areas in Nevada. However, continuous woodland

7055-425: The western edge of the Great Basin desert. The pattern of 'basin and range' with adjacent basins and ranges in this region results in incredible biological diversity. Climate, elevation, soil type, and many anthropogenic variables greatly influence the diversity and distribution of shrubland , grassland , and woodland communities in the desert. Across the high desert there are numerous sub-climates correlating to

7140-471: Was found. Copies of the bones are now exhibited at the Nevada State Museum, Carson City . The flatness of the Black Rock Desert's lakebed surface has led to the area's use as a proving ground for experimental land vehicles. It was the site of two successful attempts on the world land speed record : In addition to the flat surface, distance from populated areas and uncontrolled airspace over

7225-734: Was once the size of Lake Erie . Playas occur in the lowest elevation of the Lahontan Basin, and represent the terminus or sink of rivers running east of the Sierra Nevada . The playas fill with seasonal runoff from the surrounding mountains, providing habitat for migratory birds. Black greasewood or four-winged saltbush may grow around the perimeter in the transition to the salt shrub community, where they often stabilize areas of low sand dunes . This ecoregion has limited grazing potential. Windblown salt dust from exposed playas may affect upland soils and vegetation. The Lahontan and Tonopah playas are important as wildlife habitat, as well as for recreational and military uses. The Lahontan salt shrub basin

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