The Colorado Plateau shrublands stretch across the high desert country of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, an elevated, northward-tilted saucer largely above 1,525 meters and ringed by higher mountains. Pinyon-juniper woodlands dominate, grading into big sagebrush and semi-desert shrubland at lower elevations and ponderosa pine forest higher up. The climate is arid to semiarid, with cold winters and hot summer days. Carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries, the region holds iconic landscapes such as the Grand Canyon and roughly 300 endemic plant species, yet only about 11% is protected.

At a glance

About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome

Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.

National refinement sub-regions

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer published current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions