Baja California desert

Baja California desert
Baja California desert
	Baja California desert near Cataviña
	Location of the Baja California desert
Ecology
Realm	Nearctic
Biome	Deserts and xeric shrublands
Borders	California coastal sage and chaparral; Gulf of California xeric scrub; Sierra Juárez and San Pedro Mártir pine–oak forests,; Sonoran Desert;
Geography
Area	76,296 km2 (29,458 sq mi)
Country	Mexico
States	Baja California; Baja California Sur;
Conservation
Conservation status	Relatively stable/intact
Global 200	Yes
Protected	45,940 km2 (60%)

The Baja California desert (Spanish: desierto de Baja California) is a desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.^[2] This ecoregion occupies the western portion of the Baja California peninsula, and occupies most of the Mexican states of Baja California Sur and Baja California. It covers 77,700 square kilometers (30,000 square miles). The climate is dry, but its proximity of the Pacific Ocean provides humidity and moderates the temperature. The flora mostly consists of xeric shrubs and over 500 species of recorded vascular plants.

^ Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
^ Taylor H. Ricketts, Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, et al. 1999. Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.

[Dinerstein-1] Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]

[2] Taylor H. Ricketts, Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, et al. 1999. Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.

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