This vast desert spreads out between Mexico's two largest mountain chains, the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental, extending northwards into south-western United States. The ecoregion occupies most of the state of Chihuahua, northwest Coahuila, and northeast Durango and parts of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Four river basins influence this desert -- the great Rio Grande (Bravo), the Rio Casas Grandes, the Rio Mapimi Bolsón and the Rio Mayrán. The climate is dry, with some summer and winter rains, and mild frosts during the fall and winter. Widespread and characteristic plant species are creosote bush, tarbush, viscid acacia, yucca, and cactus. This ecoregion is one of the richest deserts for plants in the Americas, and is likely the third richest desert for reptiles in the world. It contains the highest diversity of bees in Mexico, as well as the largest assemblage of endangered cacti in America.
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