Soil surface condition on upland range on the High Lonesome. Good ground cover and good greenup of warm-season perennials for a low-production, highly brittle area following 1.5" (40 mm) rain in July.

The litter accumulation you see at the soil surface is extremely important, because seeds have such a hard time germinating and establishing on bare soil in arid environments. Without the litter, precipitation is largely ineffective due to high evaporation rates off of bare, exposed soil.