Quick Reads

The Mancos River at Mesa Verde National Park is home to a very diverse group of aquatic macroinvertebrates. These insect larvae, worms, and snails play a key role in the cycling of nutrients in aquatic systems and are a great indicator of river health. Here we look at population trends using data collected from 2008-2019 by the Southern Colorado Plateau Network.

Climate change is a major driver of bird population declines and is feared to be negatively affecting species abundances in the drought-stricken southwestern United States. We analyzed twelve years of bird monitoring data (2007-2018) from six national parks and monuments on the Colorado Plateau to obtain habitat- and park-specific, breeding-season population trends and understand how they are influenced by important climate variables.

Petrified Forest National Park is planning on removing invasive vegetation and restoring native plants along the Rio Puerco. Prior to removal, we conducted surveys for the federally Threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation.

Managing problematic social trails and formalizing trail networks requires careful consideration. As part of this management need, the Southern Colorado Plateau Network conducted a breeding bird inventory at Petroglyph National Monument, especially along a unique rocky escarpment which may represent important raptor breeding habitat.

This report presents results of upland vegetation and soil monitoring of semi-arid grasslands at three parks by SCPN from 2007–2021. The purpose is to compare and contrast five grassland ecological sites and examine how they have changed during the first 15 years of monitoring.

The data packages for all our long-term monitoring efforts across the Southern Colorado Plateau are the foundations for almost everything we do here. We recently underwent our biggest effort yet in reformatting our data to fit the new standards put out by the Inventory & Monitoring Division. We are proud to announce that two of our largest datasets have now been published and are available for everyone to utilize.

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.

Across the Intermountain Region, Inventory & Monitoring Division ecologists are helping to track the effects of climate change, provide baseline information for resource management, evaluate new technologies, and inspire the next generation of park stewards. This article highlights accomplishments achieved during fiscal year 2021.

Increasing variability of temperature favors a shift to shrublands over grasslands in arid southwestern landscapes. This effect is greater than the effect of increasing soil moisture, which favors a shift to grasslands over shrublands.

Managing problematic social trails and formalizing trail networks requires careful consideration. As part of this management need, the Southern Colorado Plateau Network conducted a breeding bird inventory at Petroglyph National Monument, especially along a unique rocky escarpment which may represent important raptor breeding habitat.

From inventory data, to long-term monitoring data sets, to special projects, Southern Colorado Plateau Network data on vegetation communities, wildlife, and hydrology has informed much of the work being done in the network’s 19 parks.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

El Malpais National Monument, the “badlands,” contains an especially rugged volcanic landscape of young basaltic lava flows, cinder cone volcanoes, and other volcanic landforms and features. It is located in the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field in New Mexico where the most recent eruption took place 3,900 years ago. The monument contains one of the longest lava tube systems in the world.

Inscription Rock in El Morro National Monument contains approximately 2,000 inscriptions, petroglyphs, and pictographs carved into the Zuni Sandstone at the base of El Morro. El Morro (“the headland”) was an important landmark for ancestral Puebloan people, Spanish explorers and settlers, and a variety of European American travelers.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the premiere geologic sites in the world. It contains an exceptional rock record ranging from the Precambrian (Proterozoic) through the Paleozoic and is one of the best places get a sense of geologic time. The park also has young volcanic deposits, a rich fossil record, many springs and seeps, an extensive mining history, and has played a major role in the development of the geological sciences in the United States.