Inventory & Monitoring at Death Valley National Park

Super-bloom of wildflowers in Death Valley National Park

NPS Photo

Death Valley National Park was originally established as a national monument in 1933 and subsequently re-designated as a national park in 1994. It is not only the largest park unit within the Mojave Desert Network, but the largest national park unit in the contiguous United States. It is home to the nation's highest recorded temperature (134 ºF) and the lowest elevation (282 feet below sea level). Because of its dramatic topographic relief, the park supports a large diversity of plants and animals, and also has one of the nation's most significant fossil records.

From Scotty's Castle to a historic mining past, to fragile species found nowhere else in the world, to sand dunes and unique geologic formations, Death Valley has a number of cultural and natural resources that warrant protecting.

The Mojave Desert Network provides natural resource inventory and monitoring information to help parks make effective, science-based management decisions. Inventories have been completed for mammals, fish, birds, vascular plants, and reptiles & amphibians (see species lists further down the page). Maps and Reports detailing Death Valley's vegetation, soils, and geology resources are also complete.

Monitoring at Death Valley National Park

Ongoing Monitoring Efforts
Bats monitoring bat populations using acoustic and capture surveys
Desert Springs monitoring water quality and availability at over 200 smaller water sources such as seeps and springs
Invasive & Exotic Plants monitoring plan for detecting invasive plants throughout the Park
Selected Large Springs monitoring water quality and availability at five larger persistent springs
Spring Vegetation monitoring desert spring plant communities at select springs
Weather and Climate monitoring temperature, precipitation, wind and other variables at park service and partner weather stations

Coming Soon (additional monitoring currently in development)
Integrated Uplands vegetation and soils monitoring of the Blackbrush community

Reports & Publications

Inventories & Assessments present baseline data collected during the first phase of the development of the Mojave Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network in order to have comparison with the long-term monitoring data currently being collected. Monitoring protocols describe why and how we collect, manage, analyze, and report monitoring data about the network's Vital Signs. The protocols consist of a narrative and associated set of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Monitoring Reports summarize data and findings from our Vital Signs monitoring activities.

Monitoring Briefs
Short summaries of fieldwork and findings

Source: Data Store Collection 4376 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Inventories & Assessments

Source: Data Store Collection 4378 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Monitoring Protocols & Plans

Source: Data Store Collection 4380 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Monitoring Reports

Source: Data Store Collection 4379 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Species Lists

The species lists presented here are works in progress. Information may change as we continue to update lists.

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Death Valley National Park

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.