Table 1. Areas of vegetative cover types in the Mexican Highlands, physiographic area 81. Forest coverages are taken from USFS FIA data, nonforest cover types are modified from USGS data. Habitat coverages with superscript * are combined from both databases by adding USGS coverage in the "nonforest" section of the USFS database.

Cover types

Area (ha)

Area (ac)

Percent of Total

Ponderosa pine forest *

128,400

317,276

3.47

Western hardwood forest

36,100

89,203

0.97

Pinyon pine-juniper forest *

8,900

21,992

0.24

Chaparral forest

968,700

2,393,658

26.14

Riparian woods

3,100

7,660

0.08

Irrigated agriculture, wheat, corn

12,400

30,640

0.34

Grama grassland

556,900

1,376,100

15.03

Bluestem, wheatgrass grassland

2,700

6,672

0.07

Open oak-bluestem woodland

4,200

10,378

0.11

Sagebrush prairie

1,788,500

4,419,384

48.26

Greasewood brushland

122,300

302,203

3.30

Barren land, sparse vegetation

3,900

9,637

0.11

Water

1,300

3,212

0.04

Urban

1,900

4,695

0.05

No data *

66,300

163,827

1.79

 Totals

3,705,600

9,156,538

100