Sagebrush scrub is a vegetation type (

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

) of mid to high elevation

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

deserts characterized by low growing, drought resistant shrubs including sagebrush (''

Artemisia tridentata ''Artemisia tridentata'', commonly called big sagebrush,MacKay, Pam (2013), ''Mojave Desert Wildflowers'', 2nd ed., , p. 264. Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in ar ...

'') and its associates.Karen Wiese, Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, 2013, p. 18-19Pam Mackay, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, p19 It is the dominant vegetation type of the

Great Basin Desert The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, and the Central Basi ...

(

Great Basin shrub steppe The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, and the Central Basin ...

), occurs along the margins of the Mojave Desert, including in the southern slopes of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

s and

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within San ...

of California, and occurs in the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area ...

and

Canyonlands Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their ...

region, where it may be referred to as cool desert shrub.Damian Fagan, Canyon Country Wildflowers, p3 It often occurs adjacent to Pinyon-juniper woodland communities, between 4,000 and 7,000 feet elevation, and where annual precipitation is 8"-15", much falling as snow. Sometimes it occurs in pure stands of sagebrush, or with associates that vary from region to region. Sagebrush scrub may occur as an understory of pinyon-juniper woodland.

Mojave Desert

In the Mojave Desert, sagebrush associates include saltbrush ('' Atriplex spp.''), rubber rabbitbrush (''

Ericameria nauseosa ''Ericameria nauseosa'' (formerly ''Chrysothamnus nauseosus''), commonly known as Chamisa, rubber rabbitbrush, and gray rabbitbrush, is a shrub in the sunflower family (Aster) found in the arid regions of western North America. Two subspecies ...

''), green ephedra ('' Ephedra vidris''), hop-sage (''

Grayia spinosa ''Grayia'' may refer to: * ''Grayia'' (snake), a genus of African water snakes * ''Grayia'' (plant), a genus of desert shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae {{Genus disambiguation ...

''), and bitterbrush (''

Purshia glandulosa ''Purshia glandulosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names antelope bitterbrush, desert bitterbrush, Mojave antelope brush. Distribution The plant is endemic to the southwestern United States, where it o ...

'').

Sierra Nevada

Sagebrush scrub occurs in relatively deep soils along the Sierra-Cascade axis, running from

Modoc County, CA Modoc County () is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat ...

to San Bernardino County, CA.Introduction to California Plant Life, RObert Ornduff, Phyllis M. Faber, Todd Keeler-Wolf, revised ed., 2003, p. 213-214 In the Sierra Nevada range in California sagebrush associates include bitterbrush (''

Purshia tridentata ''Purshia tridentata'', with the common name bitterbrush, is a shrub in the genus '' Purshia'' of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America. Common names include antelope bitterbrush, antelope bush, buckb ...

''), curl-leaf mountain-mahogany (''

Cercocarpus ledifolius ''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' is a North American species of Mountain-mahogany, mountain mahogany known by the common name curl-leaf mountain mahogany. It is widespread across much of the Western United States as well as Baja California in Mexico. ...

''), and rabbitbrushes (''

Chrysothamnus ''Chrysothamnus'', known as rabbitbrush, rabbitbush, and chamisa, are a genus of shrubs in the family Asteraceae. The native distribution is in the arid western United States, Canada, and northern Mexico. It is known for its bright white or ...

spp.'', ''

Ericameria ''Ericameria'' is a genus of North American shrubs in the family Asteraceae. ''Ericameria'' is known by the common names goldenbush, rabbitbrush, turpentine bush, and rabbitbush. Most are shrubs but one species ''( E. parishii)'' can reach tree ...

spp.''). Average summer temperatures are in the 80's Fahrenheit, and 10-20 degrees F in the winter. It can survive on 7 inches of annual precipitation, so is generally below the Piñon-Juniper Woodland vegetation type, which requires 12 to 20 inches. Its range is 4,200 to 7,000 feet in the Eastern

range in California.

References

{{reflist Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States