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Article: The Chihuahuan Desert: diversity at risk.(Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas)
- Article from:
- Endangered Species Update
- Article date:
- November 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Chihuahuan Desert is a land of superlatives. Covering nearly 250,000 square miles (647,500 square kilometers), it is the largest of the North American deserts. Jutting mountains and low basins form a range of habitats suitable for a broad spectrum of terrestrial and freshwater species. In fact, the Chihuahuan Desert is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse arid regions in the world. It is also one of the most endangered.
The Landscape
The Chihuahuan Desert stretches from southern New Mexico through the Rio Grande drainage of west Texas/northern Mexico and spreads southward over the Mexican Plateau into the states of Chihuahua, ...