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{{Short description|
{{Infobox ecoregion
|name = Chihuahuan Desert
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|elevation =
|geology =
|seas = Non
|rivers = [[Rio Grande]]
|climate = [[Hot desert climate|Hot desert]] (''BWh'') and [[hot semi-arid climate|hot semi-arid]] (''BSh'')
|soil =
|conservation = Vulnerable
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|habitat_loss_ref =
|coordinates = {{coord|30|32|26|N|103|50|14|W|scale:5000000|display=inline,title}}
|protected = {{cvt|35,905|
|protected_ref = )<ref name = dinerstein>{{cite journal |first1=Eric |last1=Dinerstein |first2=David |last2=Olson |first3=Anup |last3=Joshi |display-authors=2 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |at=pp. 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|embedded =
}}
The '''Chihuahuan Desert''' ({{lang-es|Desierto de Chihuahua}}, {{lang|es|Desierto Chihuahuense}}) is a [[desert]] [[ecoregion]] designation covering parts of [[northern Mexico]] and the [[southwestern United States]]. It occupies much of far [[West Texas]], the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in [[New Mexico]], and a portion of southeastern [[Arizona]], as well as the central and northern portions of the [[Mexican Plateau]]. It is bordered on the west by the [[Sonoran Desert]], the [[Colorado Plateau]], and the extensive [[Sierra Madre Occidental]] range, along with northwestern lowlands of the [[Sierra Madre Oriental]] range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], along with portions of [[Coahuila]], north-eastern [[Durango]], the extreme northern part of [[Zacatecas]], and small western portions of [[Nuevo León]]. With an area of about {{convert|501,896|km2|0|abbr=on}},<ref name = dinerstein/> it is the [[List of North American deserts|largest hot desert in North America]].<ref name=nyt>{{cite book |editor-first=John W. |editor-last=Wright | year=2006 | title=The New York Times Almanac |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorktimes200600wrig |url-access=registration | edition=2007 | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New York, New York | isbn=0-14-303820-6 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/newyorktimes200600wrig/page/456 456]}}</ref> The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.<ref name= NMSU />
==Geography==
[[File:Chihuahuan Desert from South Rim BIBE.jpg|left|thumbnail|The terrain mainly consists of [[Drainage basin|basin]]s broken by numerous small [[mountain range]]s.]]
There are several larger mountain ranges in the
There are few urban areas within the desert: the largest is [[Ciudad Juárez]] with almost two million inhabitants; [[Chihuahua, Chihuahua|Chihuahua]], [[Saltillo, Coahuila|Saltillo]], and [[Torreón, Coahuila|Torreón]]; and the US cities of [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] and [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]]. [[Alamogordo, New Mexico|Alamogordo]], [[Alpine, Texas|Alpine]], [[Benson, Arizona|Benson]], [[Carlsbad, New Mexico|Carlsbad]], [[Carrizozo, New Mexico|Carrizozo]], [[Deming, New Mexico|Deming]], [[Fort Stockton, Texas|Fort Stockton]], [[Fort Sumner, New Mexico|Fort Sumner]], [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]], [[Marfa, Texas|Marfa]], [[Pecos, Texas|Pecos]], [[Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell]], and [[Willcox, Arizona|Willcox]] are among the other communities in this ecoregion. Safford and Benson in Arizona are located in low elevations of the western edges of the Chihuahuan Desert, but in an [[ecotone]] with the [[Sonoran Desert]].
According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] the Chihuahuan Desert may be the most biologically diverse desert in the world as measured by species richness or endemism. The region has been badly degraded, mainly due to grazing.<ref name="WWF">{{WWF ecoregion |id=na1303 |name=Chihuahuan desert|access-date=2010-10-22}}</ref> Many native grasses and other species have become dominated by woody native plants, including creosote bush and mesquite, due to [[overgrazing]] and other urbanization. The [[Mexican wolf]], once abundant, was nearly extinct and remains on the endangered species list.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lobos of the Southwest| url=https://mexicanwolves.org/|website=Mexican Wolves|access-date=20 December 2017}}</ref>
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Owing to its inland position and higher elevation than the [[Sonoran Desert]] to the west, mostly varying from {{convert|480| to |1800|m|0|abbr=on}} in elevation,<ref name= EOE >{{cite web | url = http://www.eoearth.org/article/Chihuahuan_desert | title = Chihuahuan Desert | publisher = Encyclopedia of Earth | access-date = February 16, 2013}}</ref> the desert has a slightly milder climate in the summer (though usually daytime June temperatures are in the range of {{convert|32|to|40|C|F|abbr=on|disp=or}}), with mild to cool winters and occasional to frequent freezes.<ref name= NPS1 /> The hottest temperatures in the desert occur in lower elevation areas and valleys, including near the Rio Grande from south of El Paso into the Big Bend, and the Bolson de Mapimi.<ref name= EOE /> A subtropical temperature regime describes lower elevations in the Texas Big Bend region up to the Presidio and Candelaria areas, then southward into similar elevations, while a warm temperate temperature regime describes higher elevations and further north. The average annual temperature in the desert varies from about {{convert|13|to|22|C|F}}, depending on elevation and latitude.
The mean annual precipitation for the Chihuahuan Desert is {{convert|235|mm|in|abbr=on}} with a range of approximately {{convert|150|–|400|mm|0|abbr=on}}, although it receives more precipitation than most other warm desert ecoregions.<ref name= NMSU />
==Flora==
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The creosote bush (''[[Larrea tridentata]]'') is the dominant plant species on gravelly and occasional sandy soils in valley areas within the Chihuahuan Desert. The other species found with creosote bush depend on factors including the soil type, elevation, and degree of slope. Viscid acacia (''[[Vachellia vernicosa]]''), and tarbush (''[[Flourensia cernua]]'') dominate northern portions, while broom dalea (''[[Psorothamnus scoparius]]'') occurs on sandy soils in western portions. ''[[Yucca]]'' and ''[[Opuntia]]'' species are abundant on slopes and uplands in most areas, while Arizona rainbow cactus (''[[Echinocereus polyacanthus]]'') and Mexican fire-barrel cactus (''[[Ferocactus pilosus]]'') inhabit portions near the US–Mexico border.
[[Herbaceous plant]]s, such as bush muhly (''[[Muhlenbergia porteri]]''), blue grama (''[[Bouteloua gracilis]]''), gypsum grama (''[[Bouteloua breviseta|B. breviseta]]''),
Desert or arid grasslands comprise 20% of this desert and are often mosaics of shrubs and grasses. They include purple three-awn (''[[Aristida purpurea]]''), black grama (''[[Bouteloua eriopoda]]''), and sideoats grama (''[[Bouteloua curtipendula]]''). Early Spanish explorers reported encountering grasses that were "belly high to a horse"; most likely these were big alkali sacaton (''[[Sporobolus wrightii]]'') and tobosa (''[[Pleuraphis mutica]]'') along floodplain or bottomland areas.<ref name="WWF"/>
The United Nations Environment Programme reported in 2006 that nearly half of the bird, mammal, and butterfly species in the Chihuahuan Desert are expected to be replaced by other species by 2055 due to climate change.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://
==Protected areas==
A 2017 assessment found that {{cvt|35,905|
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="125px">
File:Creosote Larrea tridentata.JPG|Young [[Larrea tridentata|creosote bush]] (''Larrea tridentata'')
File:VanHornTX 2008.jpg|[[Yucca]],
File:Agave lechuguilla habitus.jpg|Lechuguilla (''[[Agave lechuguilla]]'')—one of the indicator plants of the Chihuahuan Desert
File:Spring Water coahuila MEXICO - panoramio.jpg|Poza Azul, one of many a springs in the [[Cuatro Ciénegas Basin]] in central [[Coahuila]], Mexico (2009).
</gallery>
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