National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Guadalupe Mountains National Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment Natural Resource Report NPS/GUMO/NRR—2013/668 ON THE COVER The desert environment of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, with El Capitan. Photograph courtesy of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Guadalupe Mountains National Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment Natural Resource Report NPS/GUMO/NRR—2013/668 Kathleen Kilkus1 Andrew J. Nadeau1 Shannon Amberg1 Sarah Gardner1 Michael R. Komp1 Barry Drazkowski1 Melanie Myers2 1 GeoSpatial Services Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota 890 Prairie Island Road Winona, Minnesota 55987 2 National Park Service Denver Service Center - Planning Division 12795 W. Alameda Parkway Lakewood, Colorado 80225 June 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. Chapter 4 of this report received formal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data, and whose background and expertise put them on par technically and scientifically with the authors of the information. The remainder of the report received informal peer review by park and network staff. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available from the Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). Please cite this publication as: Kilkus, K., A. J. Nadeau, S. Amberg, S. Gardner, M. R. Komp, B. Drazkowski, and M. Myers. 2013. Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Natural resource condition assessment. Natural Resource Report NPS/GUMO/NRR—2013/668. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 166/121239, June 2013 ii Contents Page Figures........................................................................................................................................... vii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Plates ............................................................................................................................................ xiii Photos ............................................................................................................................................ xv Appendices .................................................................................................................................. xvii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... xix Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xxi Acronyms and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... xxii Chapter 1 NRCA Background Information .................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Introduction and Resource Setting ................................................................................. 5 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.1.1 Enabling Legislation .................................................................................................. 5 2.1.2 Geographic Setting..................................................................................................... 5 2.1.3 Visitation Statistics .................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Natural Resources .............................................................................................................. 6 2.2.1 Ecological Units and Watersheds .............................................................................. 6 2.2.2 Resource Descriptions ............................................................................................... 8 2.2.3. Resource Issues Overview ...................................................................................... 10 2.3 Resource Stewardship ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Management Directives and Planning Guidance ..................................................... 15 2.3.2 Status of Supporting Science ................................................................................... 15 Chapter 3 Study Scoping and Design ........................................................................................... 23 3.1 Preliminary Scoping ........................................................................................................ 23 iii Contents (continued) Page 3.2 Study Design .................................................................................................................... 24 3.2.1 Indicator Framework, Focal Study Resources and Indicators ................................. 24 3.2.2 General Approach and Methods .............................................................................. 27 Chapter 4 Natural Resource Conditions ....................................................................................... 35 4.1 Fire Regime ..................................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Dune Communities .......................................................................................................... 57 4.3 Sky Islands (Montane Forest) .......................................................................................... 72 4.4 Riparian and Canyon Communities ................................................................................. 86 4.5 Semidesert Grassland ....................................................................................................... 98 4.6 Desertscrub .................................................................................................................... 108 4.7 Birds ............................................................................................................................... 118 4.8 Reptiles .......................................................................................................................... 142 4.9 Mountain Lion ............................................................................................................... 151 4.10 Air Quality ................................................................................................................... 160 4.11 Water Quality ............................................................................................................... 178 4.12 Soundscape .................................................................................................................. 193 4.13 Viewscape .................................................................................................................... 197 4.14 Dark Night Skies .......................................................................................................... 206 4.15 Hydrology .................................................................................................................... 218 4.16 Geological and Paleontological Resources .................................................................. 233 Chapter 5 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 241 5.1 Component Data Gaps ................................................................................................... 241 5.2 Component Condition Designations .............................................................................. 242 iv Contents (continued) Page 5.3 Park-wide Condition Observations ................................................................................ 244 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………….. 249 v Figures Page Figure 1. EPA Level IV ecoregions within GUMO. ...................................................................... 7 Figure 2. Vegetation types in GUMO, as classified