BIOTIC RESOURCES OF INDIO MOUNTAINS RESEARCH STATION Southeastern Hudspeth County, Texas A HANDBOOK FOR STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS Compiled by: Richard D. Worthington Carl Lieb Wynn Anderson Pp. 1 - 85 El Paso, Texas Fall, 2004 (Continually Reviewed and Updated) by Jerry D. Johnson (Last Update) 16 September 2010 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION - Pg. 3 COLLECTING IMRS RESOURCES – Pg. 4 POLICIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF RESOURCES – Pg. 4 PHYSICAL SETTING – Pg. 5 CHIHUAHUAN DESERT – Pg. 6 CLIMATE – Pg. 6 GEOLOGY – Pg. 8 SOILS – Pg. 12 CULTURAL RESOURCES – Pg. 13 PLANT COMMUNITIES – Pg. 14 LICHENS – Pg. 15 NONVASCULAR PLANTS – Pg. 18 VASCULAR PLANTS – Pg. 19 PROTOZOANS – Pg. 34 FLATWORMS – Pg. 34 ROUNDWORMS – Pg. 34 ROTIFERS – Pg. 35 ANNELIDS – Pg. 36 MOLLUSKS – Pg. 36 ARTHROPODS – Pg. 37 VERTEBRATES – Pg. 64 IMRS GAZETTEER – Pg. 80 2 INTRODUCTION It is our pleasure to welcome students and visitors to the Indio Mountains Research Station (IMRS). A key mission of this facility is to provide a research and learning experience in the Chihuahuan Desert. We hope that this manual will assist you in planning your research and learning activities. You will probably be given a short lecture by the station Director upon entering the station. Please pay attention as IMRS is not without potential hazards and some long-term research projects are underway that could be disturbed if one is careless. Indio Mountains Research Station came into being as a result of the generosity of a benefactor and the far-sighted vision of former UTEP President Haskell Monroe. Upon his death in 1907, the will of Boston industrialist Frank B. Cotton placed his estate, including land holdings in Hudspeth and Culberson Counties, into a trust for the education of Boston women. Never able to meet such lofty expectations, the executor of the estate transferred the Texas property to UTEP (then Texas College of Mines) in 1937 for back taxes owed on the land. In 1984, most of the scattered parcels of land in Hudspeth and Culberson Counties were part of a land exchange with an adjacent owner to form a consolidated, contiguous tract of 38,238 acres. In 1987, at the urging of Biology Department Chairman Jack Bristol and Assistant to the President Wynn Anderson, former President Haskell Monroe proposed that the lands be managed with an emphasis on “research and instruction for the biological and geological sciences” at UTEP. In 1991 current UTEP President Diana Natalicio reaffirmed and broadened that educational purpose and approved a basic mission organization and goals statement for IMRS. In 1992, UTEP gained management responsibilities for the land from the UT System; IMRS then became a stable educational extension of the UTEP campus. An additional gift of two adjacent sections from Allar Corporation in 1992 added an additional 1280 acres to IMRS, which brought total holdings to 39,518 acres. Recent funding from National Science Foundation grants and other sources provided new facilities to IMRS, which enhanced its educational mission and field research activities in not only the Biological and Geological Sciences, but in Archeology/Anthropology and Environmental Sciences as well. IMRS website, which contains additional information, can be accessed through http://research.utep.edu/indio. The Indio Mountains Research Station and UTEP are members of the Chihuahuan Desert Biosphere Reserve. Other members are the Biosphere Reserves of Mapimi in Mexico, Big Bend National Park and the Jornada Experimental Range (near Las Cruces, New Mexico). For information on Indio Mountains Research Station and use opportunities, contact the Director, Dr. Jerry D. Johnson, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968; (915) 747-6984; [email protected] 3 COLLECTING IMRS RESOURCES The collection and preservation of biological materials is an integral part of the learning experience and is permitted on the Indio Mountains Research Station properties within the context of approved research projects and educational activities. One should understand that many species are protected by state and federal laws and would require a hunting license or permit to take them. Furthermore, some research would be jeopardized if marked individuals under current study are removed from the population. The station Director can review proposed studies and alert or advise individuals to what can and cannot be taken. No collecting of resources found on IMRS is permitted without permission of the Director Biological materials that are taken should receive proper preservation and have adequate locality data. Some thought should be given to the proper disposition of such specimens. The collections in The Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, UTEP, is one proper depository and will willingly receive and curate specimens for long-term storage. Visitors may wish to take specimens back to their own institution or museum, which is permitted. A requirement in that case is to submit, within reasonable time, a list of what was taken, especially identified material that is not on the inventory lists in this report, so our knowledge of the biota of IMRS will continue to grow. We do not permit the taking of biological specimens for personal use (i.e., for pets, gardens, souvenirs, or for commercial purposes). We discourage the taking of fossils, especially for souvenirs. If one is interested in removing fossil material from IMRS, the following criteria must be met: 1. The collector must know the formation from which the fossils are taken. 2. The collector must obtain GPS coordinates for the sample locality. 3. The fossils are to be deposited in a research collection (at UTEP or elsewhere). 4. A list of specimens removed from IMRS is to be filed with the Director. Cultural artifacts are scattered over IMRS from past activities of indigenous humans and from more recent ranching and mining ventures. All artifacts are to be left in place. Archeological materials are not to be disturbed or removed from IMRS. We request that anyone finding evidence of prehistoric human occupation, such as pottery fragments, scatters of lithic materials, or actual sites of habitation, obtain GPS coordinates for the find and fill out a simple report form (available at the station) to be left with the station Director. POLICIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF RESOURCES 1. Research projects are to be approved by the station Director. We require approval of all research projects. This is necessary to reduce impacts on the physical and biological resources and reduce conflicts with educational programs and other ongoing research projects. 4 2. Any indiscriminant collecting of plant, animal, mineral, fossil and cultural material is prohibited except within the context of approved projects. 3. Off-road vehicle activities are prohibited. Parties must access sites using existing roads. Off-road sites must be reached by foot. 4. When collecting by turning rocks, downed wood, sotol and yucca logs, or other natural objects, they are to be returned to their original position (see Pike et al., 2010). 5. When one uses temporary pit-fall traps, they are all to be removed when the project is completed. Flagging should also be removed. We have found small pit traps that have continued to trap and kill organisms long after the project was completed. Personnel involved with long-term pit-fall trapping projects should close traps when they are off IMRS for more than one day. 6. Use of enduring markers such as spray paint, digging large holes to recover plants and animal material, and prying apart boulders is not permitted. 7. Open campfires are not permitted except in firepit at the station HQ; firewood must be brought in, as the use of native fuels on the property is not permitted. 8. Trash must be packed out. 9. Hunting is not permitted at IMRS unless a hunting lease is obtained through The University of Texas Lands Office. 10. State and federal permits are required to work with certain organisms and the appropriate laws are to be followed. 11. Camping within 500 feet of the limited watering holes for wildlife (e.g. Squaw Spring and earthen tanks) is prohibited. Exceptions to the above rules. One may petition to “bend” some of the above rules. The case for doing that must be presented to the station Director for approval. The following sections on physical and biotic resources found on IMRS include a listing of literature cited in those sections and also relevant references that can be used by students and researches using the station. PHYSICAL SETTING Indio Mountains Research Station (headquarters) is in the southeast tip of Hudspeth County about 40 km southwest of Van Horn, Texas. The station consists of about 40,000 acres. It contains most of the Indio Mountains, a lower southern spur of the Eagle Mountains located to the north. Elevations range from 900 to 1600 meters. Indio Mountains Research Station is within the Basin and Range Physiographic Province of North America. The topography is mostly the result of block-faulting. Tilted beds of mostly Cretaceous limestone can be seen in several directions from the ranch headquarters. Volcanic activity has further shaped the terrain and will be briefly discussed below. Block-faulting, folding, volcanic activity, contraction and extensional events in the earth’s crust have shaped the present mountainous terrain (see below). 5 CHIHUAHUAN DESERT Indio Mountains Research Station is situated within the Chihuahuan Desert of the United States and Mexico. Many interpretations of the exact delineation of the Desert have been proposed (see Schmidt, 1979, for a review). The description we will follow is the climatic delineation proposed by Schmidt (1979). Schmidt (1979) gathered climatic data from several hundred stations in Mexico and the southwestern United States to establish a delineation of the Chihuahuan Desert. He used the Martonne Index of Aridity in his evaluation.