What We Inventory

Taking inventory of fossils at Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

NPS Photo

Effective long-term management and stewardship of natural resources in the Mojave Desert Network begins with knowing just what resources are in our parks. To find out, the National Park Service conducted inventories to gather baseline information about the parks.

The national Inventory and Monitoring Division provides guidance, funding, and technical assistance for a set of basic natural resource inventories at all parks with significant natural resources. The results of these inventories provide a common starting point for establishing long-term monitoring. More information is about these inventories is available on the national I&M inventory page.

Inventories completed for the Mojave Desert Network parks

For more information, check out these briefs on the initial plant and animal inventories completed in 2007 and the Inventories and Assessments page.

Air Quality
Air Quality & Air Quality Related Values

Source: Data Store Collection 2454. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Climate
Weather & Climate Inventories & Reports

Source: Data Store Collection 2452. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Geology

Source: Data Store Collection 2446. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Paleontology

Source: Data Store Collection 2447. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Plants and Animals

Source: Data Store Collection 4269. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Soils
Soil Surveys

Source: Data Store Collection 2450. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Vegetation Mapping
Vegetation Mapping & Classification

Source: Data Store Collection 2453. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Water
Inventories of Water Resources & Baseline Water Quality Data

Source: Data Store Collection 2451. 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:

Castle Mountains National Monument Death Valley National Park Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument Great Basin National Park Joshua Tree National Park Lake Mead National Recreation Area Manzanar National Historic Site Mojave National Preserve Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

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.