Natural Resources at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Several small pools of water in depressions in an area of mostly bare rock
Pools at the Abó unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

NPS / SCPN

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is comprised of 3 units – Abó, Quarai, and Gran Quivira – and encompasses 1063 acres (430 ha) in central New Mexico. It was originally established as Gran Quivira National Monument in 1909 to protect cultural resources associated with the prehistoric Indian pueblos and Franciscan mission ruins. In 1980, the monument was combined with two New Mexico state monuments.

The units of Salinas Pueblo are situated within Estancia Basin at the southeast foothills of the Manzano Mountains. The terrain, cut with canyons and rocky outcrops, is fairly steep and rugged.

No water resources exist within the Gran Quivira unit of the Monument, but the Abó unit has two drainages with at least two pools that hold water year-round. The Quarai unit has one wash and two springs, which provides water for a more diverse vegetation community than the other two units. Vegetation at Salinas Pueblo NM is predominantly pinyon-juniper woodland and associated desert shrubland. Lack of water in large areas of the monument depresses faunal diversity, which includes 2 amphibian, 99 bird, and 19 mammal species.

Monitored Here



Species Lists

Select a Park:

Select a Species Category (optional):

List Differences

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.

Life Zones

Salinas Pueblo Missions ranges in elevation range from 5,953 to 6,750 feet (1,815–2,058 m) and spans the Semi-Desert Grassland/Shrub Steppe and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland life zones. The monument experiences an average annual precipitation of 14.3 inches (362 mm).

Graphic of a mountain divided into illustrated vegetation zones by elevation and exposure, with the elevations that correspond to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument highlighted

Climate Summary Chart

Charts are an effective way to summarize and graphically represent climate variables. The following chart is based on the diagrams developed for vegetation studies by Walter and Lieth in 1967. Visit our climate page for more information.

Graph with lines charting average temperature and precipitation at Mountainair, New Mexico, near Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, from 1902 to 2012 by the time of year.


Reports & Publications

Inventories are point-in-time surveys that help us learn about the resources in our parks. Information obtained through the Southern Colorado Plateau Network’s inventories of park resources helped to establish a base level of data, which has served as a starting point for our natural resource monitoring.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3515 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Our monitoring reports provide the most recent published findings from our field work.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3471 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Protocols describe how we monitor. They include a descriptive narrative of what we monitor and why, our field methods, how we analyze and manage our data, and more. All of our protocols are peer reviewed.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3280 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Find additional documents on our Reports & Publications pages.

Links

Park Flora (SEINet)

Loading results...

    Last updated: November 6, 2018