The Central Basin and Range ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency

United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 (EPA) with 26 different Level IV ecoregions. Its northern boundary is determined by the highest historical shoreline of Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 Lake Bonneville

Lake Bonneville

Lake Bonneville was a prehistoric pluvial lake that covered much of North America's Great Basin region. Most of the territory it covered was in present-day Utah, though parts of the lake extended into present-day Idaho and Nevada. Formed about 32,000 years ago, it existed until about 14,500 years...

.

Central Basin and Range
Level IV ecoregions

code
13a	Salt Deserts
13b	Shadscale Atriplex confertifolia Atriplex confertifolia is a species of evergreen shrub in the Chenopodiaceae family, which is native to the western United States.-Habitat:Shadscale is a common, often dominant, shrub in the lowest and driest areas of the Great Basin... -Dominated Saline Basins
13c	Sagebrush Artemisia tridentata Artemisia tridentata is a shrub or small tree from the family Asteraceae. Some botanists treat it in the segregate genus Seriphidium, as S. tridentatum W. A. Weber, but this is not widely followed...  Basins Sagebrush Slopes
13d	Woodland Low Mountains Shrub-Covered Low Mountains
13e	Carbonate Carbonate platform A carbonate platform is a sedimentary body which possesses topographic relief, and is composed of autochthonous calcareous deposits . Platform growth is mediated by sessile organisms whose skeletons build up the reef or by organisms which induce carbonate precipitation through their metabolism...  High Elevation Mountains
13g	Wetland Wetland A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions.... s
13h	Lahontan Playas Tonopah Playas
13j	Lahontan Salt Shrub Basin
13k	Lahontan Sagebrush Slopes
13l	Lahontan Uplands
13m	Upper Humboldt Plains
13n	Mid-Elevation Ruby Mountains Ruby Mountains The Ruby Mountains comprise one of the many mountain ranges of the Great Basin in the western United States. They are the predominant range in Elko County, in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada. To the north is Secret Pass and the East Humboldt Range, and from there the Rubies run...
13o	High Elevation Ruby Mountains
13p	Carbonate Sagebrush Valleys
13q	Carbonate Woodland Woodland Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
13r	Central Nevada High Valleys
13s	Central Nevada Mid-Slope Woodland Central Nevada Mid-Slope Brushland
13t	Central Nevada Bald Mountains
13u	Tonopah Basin
13v	Tonopah Sagebrush Foothills Foothills Foothills are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills to the adjacent topographically high mountains.-Examples:...
13w	Tonopah Uplands
13x	Sierra Nevada-Influenced Ranges
13y	Sierra Nevada-Influenced Rain shadow A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...  High Elevation Mountains
13z	Upper Lahontan Basin
13aa	Sierra Nevada-Influenced Semiarid Hills Sierra Nevada-Influenced Semiarid Basins

Salt deserts

Salt deserts within the Central Basin and Range ecoregion

Central Basin and Range ecoregion

The Central Basin and Range ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency with 26 different Level IV ecoregions...

 are geographic sinks

Sink (geography)

A geographic sink is a depression within an endorheic basin where water collects with no visible outlet. Instead of discharging, the collected water is lost due to evaporation and/or penetration...

 between 41°N and 37.5°N latitude of Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. The Level IV ecoregions are generally surrounded by Shadscale-Dominated Saline Basins

Great Basin shrub steppe

The Great Basin shrub steppe ecoregion, within the Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome, includes various xeric shrub-steppe sub-ecoregions in the Great Basin region of the Western United States.It is within the North American Desert region, and includes much of Nevada, eastern and northeastern...

 and are in low valleys. The largest occupies most of the Goshute Valley

Goshute Valley

The Goshute Valley is an endorheic landform of the Great Basin. The towns of Oasis and Cobre are in the valley's north, and the central and north of the valley contains broken flatlands, with short washes draining from the surrounding mountain ranges....

 which is ~700 sq mi (1,813 km²), and the smallest is south of the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge

The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in southwestern Elko County and northwestern White Pine County in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada in the western United States. Established in 1938, it encompasses 37,632 acres of wetlands in Ruby Valley, just east of the Ruby...

. The 19 salt deserts of the Central Basin and Range are in various Nevada valleys:

• 2 in Pilot Creek Valley north of West Wendover (1 at Leppy Reservoir)
• South of West Wendover on the Nevada/Utah line
• 2 in Goshute Valley
  Goshute Valley
  The Goshute Valley is an endorheic landform of the Great Basin. The towns of Oasis and Cobre are in the valley's north, and the central and north of the valley contains broken flatlands, with short washes draining from the surrounding mountain ranges....
  
  
• Independence Valley
• Clover Valley
• East of Ruby Valley
  Ruby Valley
  Ruby Valley is a large basin located in south-central Elko and northern White Pine Counties in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada in the western United States. From Secret Pass it runs south-southwest for approximately 60 miles to Overland Pass...
  
   (40.776382°N 114.693146°W)
• Ruby Valley (40.779502°N 114.955444°W)
• East of Newark Valley
• 2 in Steptoe Valley
  Steptoe Valley
  The Steptoe Valley is a long basin located in White Pine County, in northeastern Nevada in the western United States. From the historic community of Currie, the valley runs south for approximately 100 miles . To the west are the high Egan Range and the Cherry Creek Range, while to the east is the...
  
   on Spring Creek
• Diamond Valley
  Diamond Valley
  Diamond Valley is a basin located in central Nevada in the western United States, between the Sulphur Spring Range and the Diamond Mountains. The valley is located almost entirely within Eureka County, but the northern end crosses into Elko County. The valley is up to 12 miles wide and over 45...
  
  
• Newark Valley
• 2 in Spring Valley
  Spring Valley
  -Places:In the United States of America:*Spring Valley, Arizona*Spring Valley, San Diego County, California*Spring Valley, Colusa County, California*Spring Valley, El Dorado County, California*Spring Valley, Lake County, California...
  
  
• Pahroc Valley between the Hiko Range
  Hiko Range
  The Hiko Range is a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada....
  
   & the pass between the North & South Pahroc Range
  South Pahroc Range
  The South Pahroc Range is a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada....
  
  s
• Coal Valley east of the Golden Gate Range
  Golden Gate Range
  The Golden Gate Range is a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada....
  
  and north of the Hiko Range (37.912242°N 115.311127°W)