Natural Resources at Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Riparian corridor in Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

NPS / SCPN

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, encompasses about 34,000 acres in the San Juan Basin region of northwestern New Mexico. Originally designated as a national monument in 1907 to preserve the remains of the prehistoric Chacoan culture, the park was expanded in 1980 and its status changed to a national historical park.

Chaco Culture NHP is of national and international significance because it contains approximately 4000 prehistoric and historic archeological sites representative of Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Pueblo, and Navajo occupations. The park is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Chaco Culture NHP contains three prominent land forms:

1. the alluvium-filled valley floor of Chaco Canyon, with its prominent drainage features;
2. expansive sandstone mesas, topped by slickrock outcrops and gently rolling hills; and
3. a number of smaller side canyons (including box-canyons locally known as "rincons") eroded into the sandstone faces adjacent to the main canyon floor.

Nine vegetation types have been documented in Chaco, including pinyon-juniper woodland, grassland, and riparian vegetation. The park supports 4 species of amphibians, 127 species of birds, 41 species of mammals, 14 species of reptiles, and 27 species of invertebrates. Water resources in the park include a high water table, an intermittently flowing stream, several seeps and pools.

Monitored Here

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• Climate
• Riparian ecosystems
• Spring ecosystems
• Upland ecosystems

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Species Lists

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Select a Species Category (optional):

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Species attribute definitions

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Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.

Life Zones

Chaco Culture NHP ranges in elevation from 6,009-6,875 feet (1,832-2,096 m) and spans the the Semi-Desert Grassland/Shrub Steppe and the Pinyon-Juniper Woodland life zones. It experiences an average annual precipitation of 8.9 inches (225 mm).

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.

Reports & Publications

Inventory Reports

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.

Monitoring Reports

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

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)