High deserts are generally defined as areas 5,000 feet above sea level with an average annual precipitation of less than 10 inches.
Not only is there a significant difference in elevation between high and low desert areas, but there is also a change in the indigenous flora and fauna of the regions.
Since high desert areas tend to be much colder, and stay colder longer, plants that are adaptable to shorter growing seasons have colonized the higher desert regions.
Generally all of the 12 desert regions in North America contain both high and low deserts.
The major deserts (and smaller extensions) in North America include:
- The Chihuahuan Desert, which stretches from central Mexico to northern New Mexico, and parts of Arizona and Texas. (The Texas portion is also known as the Trans-Pecos Desert.)
- Colorado Plateau
- Great Basin
- Moab Desert
- Mojave Desert (which includes the famous Death Valley)
- Painted Desert
- Sonoran Desert
- Baja California,
- Sierra Madre Occidentals (in Mexico)
- Osoyoos Desert (Canada)
- Carcross Desert (Canada)
The word desert originates from the Latin desertum, which means abandoned place.
Plants that do well in low desert environs (below 5,000 feet elevation) may not do well in higher climes.
When planting, make sure you check not only the USDA cold-hardiness zones the plant is adapted to, but also the growing seasons in higher (and lower) altitudes. Some plants will grown only in higher elevations, while lower elevation plants may die when exposed to colder day and night temperatures, as well as shorter seasons, and higher dosages of solar rays.
