Habitat for sagebrush steppe dependent species is being eliminated by energy development, altered fire regimes and rapid conversion to exotic annual grasslands and juniper woodlands.
Characteristically, the basin floors have strongly saline and very alkaline soils that support black greasewood, inland saltgrass, bud sagebrush, shadscale, alkali sacaton, rushes, basin wildrye, bottlebrush squirreltail, and cheatgrass.
