Characterization of Relict Communities for Monitoring Park Ecosystems in Glen Canyon National Recreration Area

Abstract

All of the field work for the project was completed during the 1991 field season. All of the vegetation data from both field seasons have been entered into the USD mainframe computer in preparation for detailed analysis. The first objective of the 1991 field season was to identify suitable relict and lightly grazed pinyon-juniper sites that could be used as reference points in evaluating the effects of livestock grazing on the pinyon-juniper communities of the Orange Cliffs. Two sites in western Canyonlands National Park were considered in 1990, but they proved to have been either disturbed by livestock in the past or located on a significantly different substrate. Two areas, the North Block and the South Block, were selected during the 1991 field season as potential relict sites.