page_title: Columbia Plateau (ecoregion)
section_title: Dissected Loess Uplands (10f)
hierarchical_section_title: Columbia Plateau (ecoregion) / Level IV ecoregions / Dissected Loess Uplands (10f)
caption_attribution_description: Pinus ponderosa English: Ponderosa Pine, Western Yellow Pine, Blackjack or Bull Pine
context_page_description: The Columbia Plateau ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency encompassing approximately 32,100 square miles of land within the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The ecoregion extends across a wide swath of the Columbia River Basin from The Dalles, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho to Okanogan, Washington near the Canada–US border. It includes nearly 500 miles of the Columbia River, as well as the lower reaches of major tributaries such as the Snake and Yakima rivers and the associated drainage basins. It is named for the Columbia River Plateau, a flood basalt plateau formed by the Columbia River Basalt Group during the late Miocene and early Pliocene. The arid sagebrush steppe and grasslands of the region are flanked by moister, predominantly forested, mountainous ecoregions on all sides. The underlying basalt is up to 2 miles thick and partially covered by thick loess deposits. Where precipitation amounts are sufficient, the deep loess soils have been extensively cultivated for wheat.
context_section_description: The Dissected Loess Uplands ecoregion consists of disjunct rolling hills and flat plateau remnants cut by the Lower Snake and Clearwater Canyons. Elevation varies from 1,500 to 3,600 feet (460 to 1,100 m). Pure grasslands dominate lower elevations, with bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, and Sandberg bluegrass. Mountain brush grows on north facing slopes and higher, moister sites, with snowberry and wild rose. Livestock grazing and farming have eliminated much of the original plant cover. Nevertheless, the Dissected Loess Uplands is not as suited to farming as neighboring regions because it has thinner soils. The Dissected Loess Uplands covers 224 square miles (580 km²) in western Idaho and larger areas in southeastern Washington, south of the Snake River between Dayton and Lewiston, including part of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation.
caption: Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and scattered Ponderosa Pine grow in the Yakima Folds (ecoregion 10g)
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:30 13:14:26", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[46, 53, 85713/2500]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[120, 38, 38919/1250]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "850989/1000", "Image GPSInfo": "9044", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9284", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8636", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:05:30 13:14:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:05:30 13:14:26", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "60", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4272", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2848", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9014", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2136000/439", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "356000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}