The Arizona/New Mexico Mountains are distinguished from neighboring mountainous ecoregions by their lower elevations and an associated vegetation indicative of drier, warmer environments, which is also due in part to the region’s more southerly location. Forests of spruce, fir, and Douglas fir, that are common in the Southern Rockies and the Uinta and Wasatch Mountains, are only found in a few high elevation parts of this region. Chaparral is common on the lower elevations, pinyon-juniper and oak woodlands are found on lower and middle elevations, and the higher elevations are mostly covered with open to dense ponderosa pine forests.
Summary
The Arizona/New Mexico Mountains are distinguished from neighboring mountainous ecoregions by their lower elevations and an associated vegetation indicative of drier, warmer environments, which is also due in part to the region’s more southerly location. Forests of spruce, fir, and Douglas fir, that are common in the Southern Rockies and the Uinta and Wasatch Mountains, are only found in a few high elevation parts of this region. Chaparral is common on the lower elevations, pinyon-juniper and oak woodlands are found on lower and middle elevations, and the higher elevations are mostly covered with open to dense ponderosa pine forests.
