NPS
The Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitors air quality, climate, invasive exotic plants, land surface phenology, landbirds, landscape dynamics, uplands, wadeable streams, and water quality at Capitol Reef National Park. The results of that monitoring provide park managers with scientific information for decisionmaking.
Before becoming a national park in 1971, Capitol Reef National Park was established as Capitol Reef National Monument by Presidential Proclamation in June 1937, to reserve in the public interest "narrow canyons displaying evidence of ancient sand dune deposits of unusual scientific value, and . . . various other objects of geological and scientific interest." The park is best known for the geologic wonders of the Waterpocket Fold, the Cathedral Valley, narrow canyons, and evidence of ancient sand-dune deposits.
Elevation varies from 2,731 meters (8,960 feet) on Thousand Lake Mountain in the northwest section to 1,183 meters (3,880 feet) in Halls Creek at the southern tip. The park supports a patchwork of terrain, life zones, and habitats in which even slightly different combinations of slope, aspect, exposure, elevation, moisture, mineral content, and other variables blend to create distinctive microclimates and narrow niches. Woodlands and forests are common, occupying nearly every available habitat.
Shrublands are the most diverse plant communities. Herbaceous plant communities are common but patchy, and the distribution of riparian and wetland communities is limited. Past livestock grazing has altered the composition and structure of many grassland and riparian communities. The Fremont River flows through the park, its hydrology altered by the construction of a highway across a meander of the river in 1964, cutting off an old river oxbow.
Livestock grazing, increasing recreational use, collection and theft of rare and listed plants, adjacent land-use impacts, and exotic plant species invasion are the park's main natural resource management concerns.
Quick Reads
Showing results 1-10 of 26
- Locations: Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Northern Colorado Plateau Network’s long-term landbird monitoring program provides habitat-based updates for bird population status and trends in the parks in the Northern Colorado Plateau. These inform scientists and managers about changes in bird populations and about the health of the habitats they depend on. Learn more about which species were detected in the network parks for the first time and which landbird populations were increasing or declining between 2005 - 2024.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Good, clean water is essential for healthy ecosystems--for people, vegetation, and animals--making it one of the most important resources in the semi-arid west. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network and its partners monitor water quality in 8 national parks in Utah and Colorado to help scientists and managers conserve these resources. This article summarizes 2019-2022 water quality data and how they compare to state standards.
- Locations: Acadia National Park, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Amistad National Recreation Area, Antietam National Battlefield, more »
- Offices: Appalachian Highlands Inventory & Monitoring Network, Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network, Cumberland Piedmont Inventory & Monitoring Network, Eastern Rivers and Mountains Inventory & Monitoring Network, Great Lakes Inventory & Monitoring Network, more »
Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Because birds can be sensitive to habitat change, they are good indicators of ecosystem integrity. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network partners with the University of Delaware to assess breeding-bird species trends in three different habitats: low-elevation riparian, pinyon-juniper, and sage shrubland. Find out which species were increasing and declining at network parks as of 2023.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Birds of the desert southwest, a climate-change hotspot, are among the most vulnerable groups in the US. To help park managers plan for those changes, scientists evaluated the influence of water deficit on landbird communities at 11 national parks in Utah and Colorado. The results will help land managers to focus conservation efforts on places where certain species are most vulnerable to projected climate changes.
- Locations: Capitol Reef National Park
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Comparing historical climate patterns to projections for the late 21st century can provide park managers with important insights for climate-change planning efforts. At Capitol Reef National Park and other places, anticipated changes may alter the composition of plant communities.
- Locations: Capitol Reef National Park
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Although groundwater levels remain shallow enough to support mature cottonwood trees, the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park may be at risk for progressively lower flows over time—reducing the flooding needed for new cottonwood recruitment. Find out why—and what else the Northern Colorado Plateau Network is learning about the park’s riparian systems—in this article.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Scientists from the Northern Colorado Plateau Network travel thousands of miles each year to collect data on plants, soils, and water across network parks. But it would be impossible to cover every square inch of the Northern Colorado Plateau with boots on the ground. Instead, we simultaneously monitor the parks with boots in space—satellite data that provide information at a much broader scale.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Big Bend National Park, more »
- Offices: Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network, Climate Change, Climate Change Response Program, Inventory and Monitoring Division, Mediterranean Coast Inventory & Monitoring Network, more »
When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change.
- Locations: Arches National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, more »
- Offices: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network
Because birds can be sensitive to habitat change, they are good indicators of ecosystem integrity. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network partners with the University of Delaware to assess breeding-bird species trends in three different habitats: low-elevation riparian, pinyon-juniper, and sage shrubland. Find out which species were increasing and declining at network parks as of 2022.
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Source: Data Store Saved Search 3765. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 3766. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
Last updated: February 3, 2022