Ĭommon animals of the California deserts include the desert bighorn sheep, desert kit fox, coyote, spotted skunk, spotted bat, black-tailed jackrabbit, ground squirrels, kangaroo rat, white-footed mouse, and desert tortoise. The plants on the alkaline flats have a high internal concentration of salt and are able to extract water other plants can not. Four-wing saltbush excretes salt through its leaves to prevent build-up of lethal salts in the plant. The chlorophyll filled stems carry out the primary photosynthesis. The leaves are very small and are not the primary area for photosynthesis. This adaptation allows the plant to catch as much water as possible when the rains do come. The Big sagebrush root system can extend as much as 90 feet in circumference. Sagebrush, a very common resident of the Great Basin, is well adapted to the area. These plants include Big sagebrush, Pinyon pine, Utah juniper, Low sagebrush, Shadscale, and Bristlecone pine. Plants in the Great Basin Desert are well adapted to the harsh conditions. The Great Basin desert in California can also reach up to 11,000 feet (3,400 m) of elevation. : 413 The Colorado Desert hosts saguaro cactus, Sonoran creosote bush, and Salton Sea saltbush. Unlike the other California deserts, the Colorado Desert gets significant rain from the North American Monsoon in August and September. The Colorado Desert is a low desert, with elevations running from −230 to 1,000 feet (−70 to 305 m) above sea level. Higher elevations host Western juniper and Pinyon pine. Other common plants of the Mojave Desert include creosote bush, blackbrush, greasewood and saltbush. The Mojave Desert is characterized by the presence of Yucca brevifolia, the Joshua Tree, which as an indicator species of the Mojave Desert, extends southeasterly into Mohave County, Arizona, and even further, all parts of northwest Arizona. The Mojave Desert is considered a high desert, because elevations can range up to 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Joshua trees are characteristic of the Mojave Desert : 406 The soils of California deserts also tend to be alkaline, which adds to the stress of drought on plants. The driest spot in California is Death Valley, which averages 1.5 inches (38 mm) of precipitation per year. The Mojave Desert receives from 3 to 10 inches (76 to 254 mm) of rain per year, while the Colorado Desert receives from 2 to 6 inches (51 to 152 mm). The desert region of California is characterized by low rainfall, caused by the rain shadow of mountain ranges to the west of the desert region. This drying effect is responsible for creating the Great Basin Desert. By the time the winds cross over the mountains and sweep down the far side, they are very dry and absorb moisture from the surrounding area. When prevailing winds from the Pacific Ocean rise to go over the Sierra, the air cools and loses most of its moisture as rain. The Great Basin Desert exists because of the "rainshadow effect" created by the Sierra Nevada of eastern California. The Great Basin Desert is the only "cold" desert in the country, where most precipitation falls in the form of snow. The major urban populations of western San Diego County, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and Greater Los Angeles are over the high mountains toward the Pacific Ocean. The deserts encompass parts of Lassen, Plumas, Mono, and Inyo Counties all of Imperial County parts of Los Angeles, Kern, San Diego, and Riverside Counties and most of northern and eastern San Bernardino County. The Great Basin desert lies immediately to the east of the Sierra Nevada and extends eastward into the state of Nevada. The Colorado Desert lies in the southeastern corner of the state, between the Colorado River and the Transverse Ranges, and continues into Mexico and Arizona to the south and east, (as the named Sonoran Desert). : 408 The Mojave Desert is bounded by the Tehachapi Mountains on the northwest, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains on the south, and extends eastward to California's borders with Arizona and Nevada it also forms portions of northwest Arizona. There are three main deserts in California: the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Desert, and the Great Basin Desert.
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