NPS
These park units are an important component of the entire ecoregion and are integral keystone ecosystems to protecting and preserving the biodiversity of the entire Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion. Therefore, it is imperative that the seven park units, along with Chamizal National Monument a fellow Chihuahuan Desert park, network and partner with other protected areas, agencies, institutions, organizations, governments both in the U.S. and Mexico, and others to promote research, investigation, inventory and monitoring, and conservation of this vital ecoregion.
Much of the land administered by the Chihuahuan Desert Network parks has a history of resource use that has resulted in significant alteration. Descriptions from the 1800s described the Chihuahuan Desert landscape as dominated by native grasses, with widely scattered shrub cover, and extensive cienegas and riparian gallery forests. However, a history of fire suppression, over-grazing, and competition from non-native species has resulted in loss of the native grasses and the invasion of the grasslands by woody shrubs and small trees. Diversion of water from the riparian areas has impacted river flows, altered flood patterns, and destroyed most of the gallery forests and cienegas. Mexican Wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) have been extirpated from the region, while Antelope (Antilocapra americana) and Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) numbers are much reduced from their former abundance. Today, threats to the Chihuahuan Desert include accelerating development around urban centers and along the US-Mexico border, agricultural expansion, overuse of riparian areas, air and water pollution, invasive non-native species, and illegal collection of native species.
Showing results 1-10 of 27
- Type: Article
- Subtype: Series
- Locations: Carlsbad Caverns National Park,Fort Davis National Historic Site,Guadalupe Mountains National Park,White Sands National Park
In 2004, independent researchers began conducting a three-year inventory of birds in low-elevation riparian (stream-side) habitats in the National Park Service’s Chihuahuan Desert Network. The goals of this study were to (1) document the presence, richness, and abundance of bird species; (2) compare results to existing information about park birds and update park checklists; and (3) provide baseline data and site evaluations that may be used to develop bird monitoring programs in the Network.
- Type: Article
- Subtype: Series
The American Southwest, including the Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Network (CHDN), is well known for its abundance and diversity of reptiles. The area is less well known for its amphibians, but they are abundant in some habitats, particularly during favorable weather conditions.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Amistad National Recreation Area
- Offices: Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network,Inventory and Monitoring Division
Climate and water dramatically shape ecosystems, especially in arid and semi-arid places like Amistad National Recreation Area (NRA) in Texas. The reservoir at the park receives drainage from water basins in the U.S. and Mexico, including the Pecos and Devils rivers and the Rio Grande. The park supports a wide variety of plants and animals because it is in a transition zone between major life and climate zones. We monitor climate and water to assess park ecosystems.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site,Big Bend National Park,Capulin Volcano National Monument,Carlsbad Caverns National Park,Fort Larned National Historic Site, more »
Both the Clean Air Act and the National Park Service Organic Act protect air resources in national parks. Park resources affected by air quality include scenery and vistas, vegetation, water, and wildlife. Over the past three decades, the National Park Service has developed several internal and cooperative programs for monitoring various measures of air quality.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument,Amistad National Recreation Area,Arches National Park,Aztec Ruins National Monument,Bandelier National Monument, more »
- Offices: Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network,Greater Yellowstone Inventory & Monitoring Network,Inventory and Monitoring Division,Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate,Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network, more »
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.
- Type: Article
- Subtype: Series
Blanketing the upper elevation plateaus and mountains of the Southwest are forests of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), mixed conifer, spruce-fir, and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), collectively known as montane forests. Montane forests cover only about 8% of the combined areas of Arizona and New Mexico, but are an important source of biological diversity, as well as timber, livestock forage, water, recreation, and scenery.
- Type: Article
- Subtype: Series
- Locations: Amistad National Recreation Area,Big Bend National Park,Carlsbad Caverns National Park,Fort Davis National Historic Site,Guadalupe Mountains National Park,White Sands National Park
In 2003 and 2004, the University of Arizona conducted an inventory of reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna) in six National Park Service Chihuahuan Desert Network parks. Primary objectives of this inventory were to document reptile and amphibian species, map the distribution of all species found, and determine a rough relative abundance for each species.
- Type: Article
- Subtype: Series
Scientists have identified the Southwest as a climate-change hotspot. Its climate, already warm and dry, may be particularly vulnerable to rising global temperatures. Small changes in temperature and precipitation can greatly affect sensitive desert plants and animals. Read on for an introduction to climate change in the Southwest, or visit the Science of the American Southwest Climate Change webpage to learn about specific climate change projects.
- Type: Article
- 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.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Carlsbad Caverns National Park,Chiricahua National Monument,Coronado National Memorial,Fort Bowie National Historic Site,Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, more »
- Offices: Chihuahuan Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network,Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network,Southern Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network
The American bullfrog is a great threat to aquatic ecosystems in the Southwest. They are voracious predators of aquatic animals and carry diseases that kill native species. We will implement three main actions in this project funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, Invasive Species Grant: bullfrog control, native species recovery and reintroduction, and development of early detection/rapid response protocols for bullfrogs.
Last updated: February 13, 2019