The southwestern tablelands comprise an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

running from east-central to south-east

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, east-central and a small portion of eastern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, some eastern portions of the Oklahoma Panhandle, far south-central

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and portions of northwest

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. This ecoregion has a "cold semiarid" climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''BSk''). Some years, a

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

dust storm warning A dust storm warning (SAME code: DSW) is issued by the National Weather Service in the United States when blowing dust is expected to frequently reduce visibility to or less, generally with winds of or more. Beginning November 1, 2018, the Natio ...

is issued in parts of Texas due to a

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transp ...

originating from the lower part of the Southwestern Tablelands ecological region or from the southern end of the Western High Plains ecological region. Dust storm#Dust storm visibility of 1.2F4 mile or less.2C or meters or less

Included cities

* The

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, is the central corridor of the Southwestern Tablelands. * Snyder, Texas * La Junta, Colorado * Colorado Springs, Colorado * The western edge is near

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

, and Albuquerque, New Mexico * The northern edge is south of

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

* The eastern edge is west of

Woodward, Oklahoma Woodward is a city in and the county seat of Woodward County, Oklahoma, Woodward County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the largest city in a nine-county area. The population was 11,975 at the United States Census, 2020, United States Census. T ...

Environment

;Flora In the northwestern region, the prevalent vegetation consists of grasses of the

shortgrass prairie The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss ('' Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domi ...

ecosystem and

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

. ;Fauna

References

External links

Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT)The Nature Conservancy (TNC)Connemara ConservancyWeeds of the Blackland PrairieTexas counties map showing the ecoregion
{{coord, 32, -96, display=title Grasslands of the North American Great Plains Ecoregions of the United States Geography of Texas Grasslands of Texas

Included cities

Environment

See also

References

External links