Research

White Sands National Monument has been visited by human groups intermittently over the past 11,000 years. Due to the physical properties of gypsum, remnants of some of those occupations are preserved in a unique form.

Under the effects of climate change, the Sonoran Desert is expected to become hotter and drier. These changes are likely to have strong impacts on the abundance and distribution of the region's plant species. A recent study used long-term vegetation monitoring results across two national parks and two research sites to determine how Sonoran Desert plant species have responded to past climate variability.

Climate change models predict a warmer and drier southwestern United States, and land managers want to know how plants and animals may be affected by these changes. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with university scientists in Arizona and New Mexico to model the effects of a changing climate on 12 southwestern bird and reptile species as a project of the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

The Southern Colorado Plateau Network of the National Park Service has been monitoring grasslands in Petrified Forest National Park since 2007. Data collected from the park between 2007 and 2018 was analyzed to investigate how the condition of the grasslands changed over time.

The tiny, federally endangered sentry milk-vetch (Astragalus cremnophylax var. cremnophylax) is a perennial herb that forms a one inch tall by eight inch wide mat in shallow pockets of soil on the Kaibab limestone. It is endemic to the Grand Canyon, and only grows within 25 feet of the canyon rim. Since 2006, when the Sentry Milk-Vetch Recovery Plan was completed, Grand Canyon National Park has partnered with other groups to help reverse the decline of this species.

Amistad National Recreation Area and its surroundings are in a transitional zone between eastern, western, northern, and southern avifaunas, which provides the opportunity to see a wide variety of birds. Over 200 species of birds, both resident and migratory, have been documented at the recreation area.

Big Bend National Park, located within the bend of the Rio Grande in southwestern Texas, encompasses the largest protected area representative of the Chihuahuan Desert. More than 450 species of birds have been recorded at the park, including some unique Mexican species that range into the U.S. only along the border.

Desert sand dunes interact strongly with external drivers, including wind, vegetation, and groundwater. Given the ubiquity of sand dunes on Earth’s deserts and on extraterrestrial environments, this research attempts to understand how dune fields respond to these complex external forces.

On August 4, 2008, Wall Arch in Arches National Park collapsed. While the forces of gravity and erosion may contribute to the collapse of natural rock formations like Wall Arch, are there other forces that may hasten the collapse of magnificent natural rock structures?

An inventory of moths at White Sands National Monument has revealed a previously unknown concentration of endemic species.