page_title: Great Basin montane forests
section_title: High-Elevation Ruby Mountains
hierarchical_section_title: Great Basin montane forests / Subregions / High-Elevation Ruby Mountains
caption_attribution_description: English: Aspens during autumn along the Changing Canyon Nature Trail in Lamoille Canyon, Nevada
context_page_description: The Great Basin montane forests is an ecoregion of the Temperate coniferous forests biome, as designated by the World Wildlife Fund.
context_section_description: The High Elevation Ruby Mountains ecoregion represents those portions of the Ruby Mountains of Nevada that are dominated by granitic  and  metamorphic rock  types,  and  that  were  heavily  glaciated  during  the  Pleistocene.  Extensive  periglacial phenomena, such as solifluction fields, are still active at higher elevations. Since the end of Pleistocene glaciation, closed-canopy conifer forests have not recolonized the Ruby Mountains, even though the Ruby Mountains receive more precipitation than the High Elevation Carbonate Mountains to the east. The High Elevation Ruby Mountains ecoregion is the wettest ecoregion in Nevada outside of the High Elevation Sierra Nevada. Some of the most extensive aspen groves in Nevada occur here. Subalpine meadows and scattered white fir, limber pine, and whitebark pine mingle upwards to the jagged, exposed peaks at elevations over 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Snowmelt moisture trapped by the impervious substrate supports extensive alpine meadows and alpine lakes are common. Wildlife includes mule deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats.
caption: Aspens in Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains
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