Natural Resource Condition Assessments for Amistad National Recreation Area

Learn about NRCAs

• How do parks use NRCAs?
• Learn more about the NRCA Program

The Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) Program provides framework, funding, and publishing support to parks to aid in the synthesis and documentation of natural resource conditions. Condition assessment reports are a tool to describe selected park resources, and record a snapshot of their current condition, identify trends, and identify potential or current threats and stressors. Understanding the condition and trend of natural resources is key for parks and NPS planners to appropriately prioritize and allocate stewardship resources.
 

Highway 90 bridge and park shoreline.

NPS Photo.

An oasis in the desert, Amistad National Recreation Area consists of the United States portion of the International Amistad Reservoir along the Rio Grande River in southwest Texas. Amistad, whose name comes from the Spanish word meaning friendship, is best known for excellent water-based recreation, camping, hiking, rock art viewing, and its rich cultural history. The area is also home to a wide variety of plant and animal life above and below the water's surface.

Amistad National Recreation Area supports flora and fauna in a combination not found in any other National Park Service site. This biodiversity is a result of the park's location in a transition zone between major life and climate zones. It lies between three major plant communities: Tamaulipan Shrubland, Chihuahuan Desert, and Edwards Plateau; in the transition between temperate and tropic climatic zones; and in the transition from dry arid zones in the western half of the Unied States to the more humid and wet eastern half of the country.

NRCA reports completed for this park:

Traditional NRCA: 2016

Traditional NRCA: 2016

In an effort to better understand the natural resources and processes within Amistad National Recreation Area, a Natural Resource Condition Assessment was written and published in 2016. This assessment was undertaken by the Amistad National Recreation Area staff and management, and other NPS monitoring representatives. This team chose 14 resource topics to be evaluated:

		- Night sky				- Jagarundi cat
		- Air quality				- Herpetofauna
		- Geology				- Small native fish
		- Surface water quality				- Invasive mussels
		- Groundwater and springs				- Invasive plants
		- Riparian habitat				- Mammals
		- Upland vegetation				- Landbirds

Four resources were considered to be in good condition: geology, riparian habitat, landbirds, and exotic mussels. Groundwater and springs was in good to moderate condition, while night sky and air quality had a condition of moderate concern. Surface water quality had a condition of moderate to significant concern, and three other resources – upland vegetation, exotic plants, and small native fishes – were given a condition of significant concern. The remaining three resources – mammals, jaguarundi and herpetofauna – were not given a condition status due to lack of data. The condition reporting of these resources can be used by park managers for a variety of resource planning and other reporting purposes, such as expanded resource briefs for education and interpretation.

Links to NRCA Products
Materials produced by the park and the NRCA Program.

For other reports and natural resource datasets visit the NPS Data Store.

Source: Data Store Collection 7765 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.