This view shows a glacial carved serrated ridge between Jeff Davis Peak (left) and Wheeler Peak (right). Aspen trees with their spring foliage grow along Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive in the foreground. The spruce-alpine forest consists of mostly of Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir, limber pine and aspen. Great Basin National Monument encompasses biotic communities including:

bear ground/rock - above 7,000 feet to the mountain crests
alpine meadow (alpine tundra) - above about 11,500 feet
limber pine-bristlecone pine forest - between about 9,600 and 11,500 feet
spruce-alpine forest (mixed aspen/conifer forest)- between about 8,200 and 11,500 feet
mountain scrub (upper sagebrush grasslands) - between about 7,500 and 9,600 feet
deciduous forest and scrub (riparian and aspen forests) - along stream valleys between about 6,500 and 8,200 feet
white fir-douglas fir forest (coniferous forest) - between about 7,600 and 8,200 hundred feet
pinyon-juniper forest - between about 6,500 and 7,700 feet
northern desert scrub/shrub (sagebrush grasslands) - between 5,500 and 6,500 feet
grasslands - lower to intermediate elevations
salt desert scrub/shrub (shadscale vegetation) - lowest valleys below 5,500 feet (in valley outside of park)

(modified after sources: NPCA, 2009; Shelford, 1963).