Natural Resources at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Cinder cone formation with red cinders concentrated at the top. Scattered trees grow in the foreground and on the slopes of the cone.
Red cinders atop Sunset Crater Volcano give the mountain its name.

NPS

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument encompasses 3032 acres (1227 ha) in north central Arizona. It was established in 1930 to protect significant geological resources of a volcanic eruption that occurred about 900 years ago. In addition to their scientific value, the volcano and associated natural resources continue to have cultural significance to contemporary native tribes.

The vegetation of Sunset Crater Volcano NM is diverse and includes nearly barren cinder beds and rock outcrops, grassy meadows, open stands of trees with sparse understory shrublands, and dense forests on more moist aspects of the highest slopes, drainages, and ridges. Ponderosa pine forests dominate deep cinder deposits and pinyon-juniper woodlands occur in the northwestern portion of the monument.

Surface water is almost non-existent within the monument and some areas, such as the Bonito Lava Flow, are so inhospitable that they likely provide little habitat for wildlife. However, unique habitats have been found within the monument that may shed light on the ecological processes that allow pioneer plants to move into harsh habitats and eventually transform them. Two amphibian, 117 avian, 29 mammalian, and 10 reptilian species have been documented in the monument.

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Life Zones

Sunset Crater Volcano NM ranges in elevation from 6,810 to 8,010 feet (2,076–2,441 m) at the top of the Sunset Crater cinder cone, and spans the Semi-Desert Grassland/Shrub Steppe, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Ponderosa Pine Forest life zones. The monument experiences an average annual precipitation of 16.77 inches (426 mm).

Graphic of a mountain divided into vegetation zones by elevation, with the wide range of elevations that correspond to Sunset Crater Volcano 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 charting average temperature and precipitation at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument from 1969 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.

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)

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    Last updated: November 6, 2018