Great Basin National Park Park News National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior The Midden The Resource Management Newsletter of Great Basin National Park Cave Bioinventory: New Discoveries and Ongoing Research

By Steve Taylor, Illinois Natural just how little we really know about cave History Survey faunas in the western . Findings from this study have applica- A team of cave biologists from Illinois, bility to management of cave resources Arkansas, and Texas came to the park in at Great Basin National Park, and also May 2007 to assist park staff with a have relevance to other land managers study of the fauna of several caves. We in the basin and range area of and . The isolation of the numerous are documenting the fauna of each Krejca. Jean by Photo cave as well as gaining an understand- small mountain ranges gives hope that ing of microhabitats used by the most more species are waiting to be discov- frequently encountered taxa. Micro- The Model Cave harvestman, Cryptobunus ungulatus. ered. habitat data include details of substrate, Microcreagris grandis Muchmore, and temperature, moisture, and humidity. In 2007 we will complete field work, first the Model Cave harvestman, In addition, a long-term monitoring visiting several caves in the dead of win- Cryptobunus ungulatus ungulatus project in Lehman Caves, the most ter when their passages are not filled Briggs—both known since the late 1960s accessible and heavily visited of the with snowmelt waters, and then visiting or early 1970s. These two species exhibit caves in the park, seeks to shed light on several high altitude caves, none of some of the classic characteristics of possible impacts of differing levels of which previously have been visited by cave-adapted organisms. The Lehman visitation on the abundance and di- cave biologists. Caves pseudoscorpion is very large (for versity of life in the cave. That moni- a pseusdoscorpion!) and has long, thin toring program also provides an op- appendages. Because it is a predator, its portunity for volunteers to assist park presence in the caves is indicative of a service personnel in conducting field healthy population of much smaller research in the cave. organisms, and thus, a source of energy for these smaller creatures. The Model Most of the invertebrates living in Cave harvestman has lost much of its caves of Great Basin National Park are

pigment, and appears pale white to Krejca. Jean by Photo tiny and take considerable patience, a orange in color – it is a real treat to en- bit of training, and a good eye to dis- counter one of these harvestmen crawl- cover. But two of the most remarkable ing along with slow, deliberate motions, in these caves are relatively feeling about in its darkened surround- The Lehman Caves pseudoscorpion. large (larger than the eraser of a pen- ings. cil), and fascinating. These are the Lehman Caves pseudoscorpion, The ongoing research at Great Basin National Park continues to yield excit - In This Issue ing discoveries. In the last issue of the What’s Eating Our Trees?...... 2 Midden (Vol. 6[1]), photos accompa- Pulse of the Trees...... 3 nying an article by Gretchen Baker show Published Research ...... 3 a cave millipede and a globular spring- Data Mining in the Park...... 4 tail (Arrhopalites sp.). Since that time, Mapping Lehman Caves...... 4

we have confirmed that both of these Nutcrackers, , & ..5 Photo by Jean Krejca. Jean by Photo species, plus a second type of millipede, Climate Change Study...... 6 are new to science. They are currently Small ...... 6 being described by taxonomic experts Alpine Areas May Shrink...... 7 Cave biologist Mike Slay (The Nature Conservancy) on these groups. The presence of Fish Populations Increase...... 8 records field data during the bioinventory of undescribed species in the caves reveals Lehman Caves.

Fall/Winter 2006 Volume 6 Issue 2 What’s Eating Our Trees?

By Meg Horner, Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park is a prime example of the forested, mountain ‘islands’ that rise out of the Great Basin region in eastern Utah and Nevada. These heavily forested mountain ranges support diverse species of plants and animals. In

Great Basin National Park, there are NPS. Horner, M. by Photo almost one thousand different spe- cies of plants. Several of these species including white , piñon , nar- row-leaf cottonwood, and chokecherry have been infested and even killed by a few, small, persistent species of insect that rely on these Fall webworm tent in a live cottonwood. trees for survival. system. Two park watersheds, Baker or tent in the branches of their host tree One kind of bark beetle, the fir en- Creek and Strawberry Creek, have that surrounds the foliage they will graver beetle, is making itself at home been noticeably affected by bark consume. The tent is used as a feeding in white fir and pinyon pine trees. beetles. Taking a walk or a drive up area and a resting place for the caterpil- Bark beetles live in and feed on the either one of these drainages will lars and is made larger to include more inner bark of dead and living trees. reveal standing, dead white that foliage to accommodate the growing Because they can infect living trees, were weakened by drought and then caterpillars. they are causing damage to drought killed by invading bark beetles. weakened conifers in the park and Fall webworms can totally defoliate a across the western United States. Bark Fall webworm is a more conspicuous tree which may impair the tree’s ability beetles are brownish or black and insect that is affecting several plant to grow but rarely kills it. This past range between six and eight mm species in Great Basin National Park. summer in Snake Creek, fall webworm long. They fly in large, synchronized Webworms are caterpillars that feed caterpillars defoliated many of the cot- groups that arrive at a tree and over- on many types of deciduous trees. tonwoods leaving bare branches and whelm it with their large numbers. Within the park, fall webworms make their silken webs which can still be seen The bark beetles’ invasion does not their homes on cottonwoods and hanging in many of the trees. Some of actually kill the tree. The tree even- chokecherry. The caterpillars emerge the chokecherry bushes that line Baker tually dies from a fungus that is in- in August and September and imme- Creek Road above the campground troduced and spread by the beetles diately begin feeding on leaves. They have also been affected by fall web- which clogs the tree’s water transport also begin constructing a silken web worm, with their webs still visible to a passerby. The caterpillars will spend the winter in a pupal stage hidden under tree bark, soil, or leaf litter and will emerge next spring as moths ready to produce another generation of web-

worms. Photo by M. Horner, NPS. Horner, M. by Photo See past issues of The Midden online at http://www.nps.gov/ grba/parknews/midden.htm

In a short period of time, the caterpillars completely strip the tree of vegetation.

2 The Midden Getting the Pulse of the Trees By Dr. Franco Biondi, DendroLab, between climate, wildfire, and species University of Nevada-Reno dynamics in Great Basin woodlands, which is being carried out by the When does single-leaf piñon begin DendroLab with support from the growing every year? When does it National Science Foundation. stop? How is stem size changing from day to night, and in response Getting the pulse of the trees is not an easy task. The instruments, installed to weather events? Although a lot of DendroLab. by Photo people think they know the answer in May 2006, will need to continu- to these simple questions about one ously operate for at least a few years of Nevada’s state trees, a quick search in order to provide reliable data on of the scientific literature reveals that Chewing damage to the dendrometer cables. year- to-year variability. As in other there are in fact no direct measure- but until recently such measurements of monitoring efforts, a longer period of ments on these topics. Electronic, piñon growth only existed for the observation corresponds to better automated instruments called southwestern kind (Pinus edulis), and information, and to a more refined dendrometers can monitor the size not for the Great Basin species (Pinus understanding of environmental of a tree stem with great accuracy, monophylla). New, ongoing research at change. Although designed to last in Great Basin National Park is filling this difficult outdoor conditions, auto- gap. mated dendrometers can be damaged by several factors, from lightning Students and researchers from the Uni- strikes to tampering. In Sep- versity of Nevada, Reno, DendroLab tember, for instance, a couple of this summer installed automated dendrometers had to be repaired dendrometers on 8 piñon trees within because of chewing damage to the the Park. The instruments measure stem wires. Still, other instruments kept recording, so the first year’s data were Photo by DendroLab. by Photo size at half-hour intervals and will provide accurate information on the not lost. length of the growing season, as well as on the relationship between radial DendroLab Website: http:// woods.geography.unr.edu Point dendrometer installed on a piñon tree growth and weather. This project is part trunk. of a larger study about the relationship Published Research about Great Basin NP since 2000 Beever, Erik and David A. Pyke. 2004. Integrated monitoring of hydrogeomorphic, vegetative, and edaphic conditions in riparian ecosystems of Great Basin National Park, Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey, Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5185. 88 p. http://fresc.usgs.gov/products/papers/gbnp.pdf.

Beever, Erik A., David A. Pyke, Jeanne C. Chambers, Fred Landau, and Stanley D. Smith. 2005. Monitoring temporal change in riparian vegetation of Great Basin National Park. Western North American Naturalist 65(3), pp. 382–402.

Elliott, P.E., D.A. Beck, and D.E. Prudic. 2006. Characterization of surface-water resources in the Great Basin National Park area and their susceptibility to ground- water withdrawals in adjacent valleys, White Pine County, Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5099. http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/sir2006-5099.

Medin, Dean E., Bruce L. Welch, and Warren P. Clary. 2000. Bird habitat relationships along a Great Basin elevational gradient. Research Paper RMRS-RP-23. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 22 p.

Siepielski, A. M., and C. W. Benkman. 2007. Convergent patterns in the selection mosaic for two North American bird- dispersed pines. Ecological Monographs, in press.

Woodyard, John, Melissa Renfro, Bruce L. Welch, and Kristina Heister. 2003. A 20-year recount of bird populations along a Great Basin elevational gradient. Research Paper RMRS-RP-43. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 10 p. The Midden 3 Data Mining in Great Basin National Park Service’s biodiversity database. By Jon Hurst and Ryan Thomas, Monument and Mojave National Pre- Great Basin National Park serve. The Mojave Network is one of 32 Once data mining has been completed, networks in the Park Service’s Inven- NatureBib and NPSpecies together In September 2006, two data miners tory & Monitoring program, and data allow park scientists to find all infor- began work at Great Basin National mining is part of the program’s mission mation relating to particular manage- Park. Data mining involves sifting of improving park management ment concerns. through scientific articles, reports, through greater reliance on scientific and other documents to find infor- knowledge. The data miners at Great Basin have mation that is important for the man- been mining for almost a month and agement of park natural resources. Once important documents are found, have added over 100 new references to they are cataloged in the Park Service’s NatureBib and over 100 new entries to The data miners are members of an master bibliography, NatureBib, where NPSpecies. They sometimes find very eight-person data mining team sta- the references are available to all park interesting documents: one report de- tioned in the Mojave Network—a personnel. The data miners’ initial fo- tails the fossil remains of extinct ice age group of parks including Death Val - cus is to find all documents within the animals found in a cave, including sa- ley, Great Basin, and Joshua Tree park pertaining to vertebrate animals ber-toothed cat, horse or zebra, camel, National Parks, Lake Mead National and vascular plants. Documents that large-headed llama, and woodland Recreation Area, Manzanar National refer to plants and animals are also musk ox. Historic Site, Parashant National cross-referenced to NPSpecies, the Park Mapping Lehman Caves with Great Accuracy by Steve Deveny, Southern Nevada could use a tape measure above each Grotto station to acquire the ceiling elevation.

In May 2003, the Southern Nevada The plan survey (looking at the cave Grotto began a volunteer survey of from a top view) is approximately 1/3 of Lehman Caves to produce a high the way complete. The Talus Room, accuracy map. To date, the Grotto has from the entrance tunnel to the Gothic completed the profile survey (looking Palace, the exit tunnel, and approxi- at the cave from a side view). This mately 1/2 of the West Room have been consists of a surface survey of the completed. To conduct this survey, we natural ground elevations directly use very accurate survey gear and a above the cave, the elevation of the method called the Total Station with 75 ceiling of the cave, and floor eleva- control locations. The calculated hori- tions of the cave. zontal accuracy of this control network is approximately one foot of error in The surface survey was completed every 10,000 feet surveyed. using a Trimble 4700 GPS Receiver Base Station using a Trimble L1/L2 Our Grotto has completed 828.5 hours Geodetic Antenna with ground plane of survey time, 271 hours of drive time, and a Trimble 4700 Rover receiver 55.5 hours of survey calculations, and with Trimble L1/L2 Geodetic An- 64 hours of drafting time for a total of tenna. The GPS survey was calibrated 1,219 hours of volunteer work. Our only to the conventional survey and a Using survey gear usually seen on the surface nemesis so far has been the price of gas natural ground elevation was taken to make an extremely accurate map of and the 10 hours of drive time to reach above every station outside of the Lehman Caves. the project’s area. cave. needed. In the Talus Room we found that we could not reach the ceiling in If you are interested in exploring the The measurement of the ceiling el- certain areas because a strong air current underground world please contact us evations inside the cave required would take the balloons for a ride to the by way of the Southern Nevada Grotto’s three different techniques. We first rear of the cave. To solve this problem, website at http://www.guanopage.com chose to measure high ceiling eleva- we purchased a Leica Disto Lite5 which or the National Speleological Society at tions floating helium-filled mylar uses an infrared beam to measure the http://www.caves.org. balloons and measuring the string distance. In most areas of the cave we 4 The Midden Interactions between Nutcrackers, Squirrels, and Pines by Adam Siepielski, University of New Mexico

The presence of Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) and the absence of pine squirrels (Tamiasciurus spp.) have influenced seed dispersal of limber pine (Pinus flexilis) via their evolutionary effects on limber pine cone structure at Great Basin National Park. The way that

plants disperse their seeds is important in Photo byA. Siepielski, UNM. Siepielski, byA. Photo their life histories. When seeds are moved away from the immediate vicinity of the parent plant, the plant usually benefits due to less competition. Most pine trees have a wing on the seed which allow A photograph of a limber pine cone from the Rocky Mountains/Sierra them to be dispersed by the wind. How- Nevada (left side), where pine squirrels are present, and a limber pine ever, about 20 pine species, including cone from the Great Basin (right side), where pine squirrels are absent. limber pine, have their seeds dispersed by birds, namely Clark’s nutcrackers. limber pine are likely the pine squir- measure natural selection exerted by rels, which are common to coniferous these animals, and not surprisingly areas throughout the Rockies and Si- they both strongly prefer to forage erra Nevada. Like nutcrackers, squirrels on trees with less-defended cones. remove large numbers of seeds annu- ally from limber pine and other coni- If you look at limber pine cones fers. Unlike nutcrackers, however, from mountain ranges in the Great squirrels are a seed predator, not a seed Basin (including the Snake Range, disperser—the pines do not benefit NV) where pine squirrels have been from having their cones harvested by absent for 10,000 or more years, and squirrels. Because squirrels do not compare these cones to limber pine Clark’s Nutcracker. provide a benefit like nutcrackers, this from throughout the Rockies or Nutcrackers use their bills to shred the creates a conflict of interest where both Sierra Nevada, where squirrels are tough cone scales or reach between open nutcrackers and squirrels coexist with present, you will notice they are very cone scales of limber pine to remove and these conifers. different (see photo). As expected, eventually bury the seeds in the ground. cones in the Great Basin are much During the fall an individual nutcracker Trees that minimize the number of smaller, with thinner cone scales will bury up to an estimated 98,000 seeds pinecones harvested by pine squirrels than cones in the Rockies or in the a year! A nutcracker will return to the while maximizing seed harvest by nut- Sierra Nevada, but even though the seed caches throughout the next year, crackers will produce the most seed- cones are smaller they have twice as even digging through the snow to reach lings. These trees have a reproductive many seeds. This is an excellent them. However, many buried seeds are advantage and therefore their attributes example of how natural selection not retrieved by nutcrackers and some are shown in future generations. influences conifer cone structure. may germinate into new trees beginning the cycle anew. One of the most important functions of This work highlights the importance conifer cones is to protect seeds, so of taking a broad perspective on The interaction between nutcrackers and areas that contain pine squirrels can be how organisms interact in nature. It limber pine is an example of mutualism. expected to have larger cones to defend also emphasizes why protection of Both nutcrackers and the trees benefit their seeds. Where pine squirrels are numerous areas is important, be- from the interaction. Trees provide nut - absent, such well-defended seeds are cause the ways organisms interact crackers with nutritious food while the not necessary, and the tree can spend with each other do not occur in the nutcrackers disperse the seeds. Nutcrack - less energy making cones and more same way in every location, and this ers, however, are not the only animals energy making seeds. I have measured interaction diversity is important to that eat the seeds of limber pine. In fact, tree preferences of both pine squirrels conservation. the most important seed predators of and nutcrackers, which is a method to

The Midden 5 Contemporary Climate History and Impacts Study By Bryan Mark, Jason Box, & David Our project features three compo- turing regular field experiences for stu- Porinchu, nents: (1) a meteorological network dents and faculty to study the myriad Ohio State University to assess recent climate variability aspects of physical-human geography. throughout the Park; (2) lake sedi- As three junior professors from the ment cores to develop a more de- We are motivated to conduct this work by Ohio State University (OSU) De- tailed climate history; and (3) an ongoing climate changes that will impact partment of Geography and Atmo- evaluation of climate impacts to the vertically diverse ecosystems and hy- spheric Sciences, we have initiated a hydrology using hydrochemical drology of the Great Basin. Our prelimi- study in Great Basin National Park and temperature sampling of sur- nary research indicates that water tem- to better understand contemporary face waters, and digital photo- peratures in sub-alpine lakes in the park Park climatology and hydrology. grammetry of rock glaciers. In have increased during the post-1980 pe- During two week-long visits to the 2006, we were joined in the field by riod and that the rate of warming during park during the summers of 2005 an undergraduate and a graduate this interval exceeds anytime during the and 2006, we have begun to cata- student. In future annual visits we 20th century. logue aspects of Park climatology, hope to establish a long-term, meteorology, limnology, and multidisciplinary scientific re- Air temperatures in the Intermountain hydrogeochemistry. search and education project fea- West of the United States are expected to continue rising in response to the in- creased atmospheric loading of green- house gases. The magnitude, pattern, and rate of future warming will likely have significant effect on park ecology, lake biota, lake biological productivity, and nutrient fluxes, alter aquatic ecosystem dynamics, and negatively impact the sta- bility of fish populations in Baker Lake. Additionally, if the contribution of glacial melt -water from the Wheeler and Baker Photo by Ohio State University. State Ohio by Photo rock glaciers is reduced, dramatic in- creases in stream and lake temperatures will result, further impacting stream and lake biota.

Collecting a core sample from one of the alpine lakes. Small Mammals in a Changing Landscape By Bryan Hamilton, Great Basin stand the ecological implications and piñon/ encroached habi- National Park of piñon/juniper encroachment, tats using Sherman live traps. The we examined the effects of this study was over a three year period Currently many areas in the Great habitat shift on small mammals. (2004- 2006) for a total of 7,767 trap Basin have shifted from sagebrush nights. The traps captured 1,258 indi- communities to woodlands with Small mammals, such as mice, rats, vidual small mammals of twelve dif- very little shrub, grass, and forb voles, , ground squir- ferent species. The most abundant cover. These shifts are due to a rels and shrews, are useful indica- species caught were deer mice fol- combination of fire suppression and tors of ecosystem change because lowed by cliff chipmunks, piñon mice, climate change and have resulted in each individual species occupies a montane voles, vagrant shrews, Great a reduction in habitat for several unique niche. This niche is closely Basin pocket mice, long-tailed voles, species of wildlife such as sage related to habitat and vegetation. harvest mice, least chipmunks, Uinta grouse, pronghorn, sagebrush voles, Park staff predicted that piñon/ chipmunks, desert woodrats, and long and kangaroo rats. juniper encroachment has caused tailed pocket mice. shifts in diversity and abundance Lehman Flat located in Great Basin of small communities. The sampling effort showed a dra- National Park is one such area. matic difference between sagebrush Historic evidence indicates that this To test for these shifts, we set up habitats and piñon/juniper en- area has shifted. To better under- trapping grids in both sagebrush croached habitat. Species diversity

6 The Midden Small Mammals, continued Figure 1. Small Mammal Density was much higher in sagebrush habi- 80 tat. Perhaps most dramatic were 70 differences in density. Sagebrush 60 habitats averaged 36 small mammals 50 per hectare while piñon juniper 40 encroached habitats averaged 15 30 small mammals per hectare (Figure hectare per # 20 1). Four species (Long-tailed voles, desert woodrats, harvest mice, and 10 0 least chipmunks) were only found h d h d h d s e s e s e ru h ru h ru h b c b c b c e a e a e a in sagebrush, while only one spe- g ro g ro g ro a c a c a c s n s n s n cies, the Uinta , was found e e e 4 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 only in piñon/juniper encroached 2 2 2 habitat. Figure 1. Small mammal density has been higher in sagebrush than in en- croached piñon/juniper habitat each of the three years studied. Small mammals are valuable prey for many raptors, reptiles, and carni- germination. see or hear crews working with vores, and are important seed dis- chainsaws, think about piñon/juniper persers. Several valuable plant spe- We are actively restoring sagebrush encroachment and small mammal com- cies, such as Indian Rice grass and through a combination of tools munities and their value to Great Basin Antelope bitterbrush, are dependent such as prescribed fire, tree removal, ecosystems. on small mammals for successful and native plant restoration. If you Alpine Habitat May Shrink Due to Climate Warming By Neal Darby, Great Basin National of alpine vegetation communities in Park the Swedish Scandes Mountains. Closer to home, Erik Beever docu- Ever wonder how the vegetation of mented a 10 year 150 meters upward Great Basin National Park would retreat of Englemann (Picea change under global warming? Re- Lehman Caves englemannii) in low elevation riparian sources Management has. Using a Visitor Center areas within Great Basin National Park, Geographic Information Systems far exceeding that predicted for trees in (GIS) and some findings from re- the Swiss Alps. search around the world we were able to model the change of vegetation What vegetation would replace the communities in response to increased current alpine flora would depend on average air temperatures. precipitation patterns, and current projections are uncertain. Most likely Alpine areas would show the most forest will cover all except Wheeler noticeable changes. Subalpine and Peak if precipitation stays the same or alpine areas on the south Snake Range increases. If precipitation decreases, would be reduced 97 percent if the alpine areas could become shrub and average summer temperature raised 3° grasslands. C. That is a reduction from 11,200 acres Figure 1. Current and projected extent of alpine areas. Green areas show current alpine to 316 acres (Figure 1). In the central habitat, and red areas show alpine habitat So get out your cameras and capture on Great Basin, alpine areas would persist with a 3 degree C increase in average summer film the extent of Great Basin National only on the south Snake Range under temperature. Park’s alpine areas. the above scenario, no other moun- Evidence is mounting that this sce- tain ranges in the area would have nario is already starting. Leif Thanks to our wonderful volunteers alpine habitat. If average summer tem- Kullman, a research scientist from who have donated over 80 0 hours peratures increased 5° C, alpine areas Sweden, has documented increases this last year! Projects included sur- would be completely lost. Such in- in average temperature, upward veys for fish, cave biota, small mam- creases in temperatures such as these advances in tree lines, invasion by mals, snakes, carnivore tracks, and could occur in the next 50 years. lower elevation plants and alteration cave mapping.

The Midden 7 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Fish Populations Increase By Gretchen Baker, Ecologist The Midden is the Resource Man- agement newsletter for Great Basin Results from five fish population sur- National Park. veys in 2006 indicate that fish popula- tions are doing extremely well after A spring/summer and fall/winter NPS. Baker, G. by Photo issue are printed each year. The two good water years. Each creek has at This young Bonneville cutthroat trout is impor- tant to keeping the stream population healthy. Midden is also available on the least three age classes and large num- Park’s website at www.nps.gov/grba. bers of fish. 580 brown/mile, 177 rainbow/mile, 348 We welcome submissions of articles brook/mile, and 692 young-of- the - or drawings relating to natural and Each survey used the three-pass year/mile. Approximately 28% of the cultural resource management and fish caught were greater than 200 mm research in the park. They can be depletion method, electrofishing a 100 sent to: meter section of stream three times. All in length. Resource Management, fish were measured, weighed, and then Great Basin National Park, released back into the stream at the end Lower Snake Creek near the second Baker, NV 89311 Or call us at: (775) 234-7331 of the survey. All surveys were done in campsite was sampled, and we were late August and early September since amazed at the number of fish. We esti- Superintendent water levels were low and no fish were mate an astounding 3155/brown trout Cindy Nielsen spawning. per mile, another record, with 23% Chief of Resource Management over 200 mm. Tod Williams Lehman Creek was sampled near Lower Lehman campground, where an Strawberry Creek’s Bonneville cut - Editor & Layout Gretchen Baker estimated 644 brown trout/mile, 708 throat trout population continues to rainbow/mile, 837 brook/mile, and 909 grow, with an estimated 853 young-of- the year/mile live. This Bonneville/mile, with the survey con - amounts to more than 3,000 fish per ducted about a mile from the park mile, the most ever found in a Lehman boundary. About 17% of the fish were Creek survey, even when the creek was greater than 200 mm in length. being stocked. About 13% of the fish were greater than 200 mm (8 in) in Finally, we fought through the brush length. to check on South Fork Big Wash, which was the orginial stream for Baker Creek’s survey was near the Bonneville cutthroat trout restoration campground, but due to a lightning in 2000. An estimated 692 Bonneville/ What’s a midden? storm only one pass was completed. mile with 14% over 200 mm in length live in the creek. A midden is a fancy name for a pile of Nevertheless, a minimum estimate is trash, often left by pack rats. Pack rats leave middens near their nests, which Upcoming Events: may be continuously occupied for hundreds, or even thousands, of years. Dec 15: Christmas Bird Count, Baker, NV Area Help collect data for the Each layer of trash contains twigs, longest running ornithological database, begun on December 25, 1900. seeds, animal bones and other material, Contact Melissa Renfro at 234-7154. which is cemented together by urine. Over time, the midden becomes a trea- Mar 03: Lunar Eclipse More information at sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/ sure trove of information for plant eclipse.html. ecologists, climate change scientists and others who want to learn about Throughout Winter, Great Basin National Park Volunteer opportunities past climatic conditions and vegetation with Resource Management to help set up remote cameras, conduct ani- patterns dating back as far as 25,000 mal track surveys, and work on other projects. Contact us at 234-7331. years. Great Basin National Park con- tains numerous middens. Lehman Cave Tours daily at 9 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM. Visitor Centers open from 8 AM to 4:30 PM daily except Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1.

8 The Midden