The beginning of our understanding and discovery of this complex
and diverse ecosystem.

Description of the Park

 Death Valley is well known
for being the not only the lowest point in North America, but also the driest
and hottest place on the continent.  Death Valley is much, much more than a large, parched and
inhospitable landscape.  Certainly, the
extreme environments provide both scientific value and visitor attraction, but
also present is a wide assortment and variety of gradients that produce a rich
and varied biologic diversity.  For
example, the park contains over 1,200 species of native plants.  In addition, there are many endemic species
of wildlife within the Death Valley
region.  The many environmental gradients
produce diverse natural physical processes as well.

 Besides this richness in
natural and cultural resources, the park contains a wide assortment of
landscape features.  The three major
valleys consist of the Panamint Valley, Saline
Valley and the world-famous Death Valley. 
There are several dunes in the park, such as Stovepipe Dunes, Panamint
Dunes, Marble Dunes, Ibex Dunes, and the ecologically significant Eureka
Dunes.  There are approximately 12
mountain ranges, such as the Panamint, Saline, and Last
Chance Ranges,
and the Panamint, Owlshead, Cottonwood, Grapevine, Black, and Funeral Mountains.  In addition, there are lesser mountain ranges
such as the Ibex Hills, Greenwater Range, Santa Rosa Hills, Bullfrog Hills, and Nelson Range.  There are approximately 1,000 freshwater
springs, including major regional springs such as Texas,
Travertine, and Grapevine Springs to perennial creeks such as Salt Creek, Darwin Falls
and Surprise Canyon. 
There are also salt pans and crusts, playas, pools of saline water,
lower/mid/and upper elevation valleys, slopes and plateaus, dunes, mountains,
caves and wetlands. 

 

In such a large and diverse
landscape of extremes, there are occasional anomalies, such as: Salt Creek,
Devils Hole, Cottonball Marsh, Saline Marsh, Saratoga Spring, the mysterious
moving rocks in the racetrack Playa, and the Saline
Valley hot springs known collectively as Warm
Springs.

 

From the 11,049-foot forested
summit of Telescope Peak down to the Badwater
Basin salt pan at -282-feet, Death Valley National Park contains abundant habitat
and species richness.  However, what do
we know of the life contained within this large expanse of desert
wilderness?   Not as much as you may
think.  To better understand the
complexity of life within these ecosystems, the traditional bird list, bighorn
sheep sight records and snake inventories are insufficient.  The richness within this ecosystem is not
necessarily any one particular species, no matter how charismatic, but instead
is the diversity of all life forms and how these species adapt to the various
habitats within the park.  Therefore, we
need to know all species within Death
Valley National Park.  This is what an All Taxa Biological Inventory
(ATBI) is all about. 

 

The All Taxa Biological
Inventory

 

 

 

 

An ATBI is a complete
inventory of all life forms within a given area, from bugs to bighorns, flatworms
to finches, viruses to vireos, lupines to lizards, microbes to mosquito fish (yes,
we do have non-native plants and animals in the park).  Beyond a mere laundry list of critters, there
are many other goals is well.  This
intensive study will also aid the park in understanding plant and animal
distribution, associations and ecological relationships as well as relative
abundance.  This will also be an
important record of organisms, habitats and conditions that will form a
baseline for future efforts that document potential effects from climate change
or other landscape-scale dynamics and alterations. 

 

Another important aspect is
engaging the public, especially school groups, whether college groups, high
school science classes, or other environmental educational efforts.  This engagement is not only to obtain needed
assistance in the inventories, but more importantly, foster a connection and
relevancy with the public and hopefully light a spark in them towards a better
appreciation for the diverse resources known as Death Valley National Park.

 

Death Valley National Park ATBI Goals:

 

1) Document every life form
within Death Valley
National Park;

 

2) Begin our understanding of
habitat relationships and how these "pieces" fit into the overall
ecosystem;

 

3) Increase our ability to
predict how changing regional and global processes may affect the Death Valley environment;

 

4) Conduct and manage this
inventory in a manner that captivates and engages the public, especially
school-age groups, and instill a sense of discovery;

 

5) Increase science literacy;
and,

 

6) introduce the diverse
resources of Death Valley
National Park to diverse
audiences.

 

 

Cooperators (so far):  

California Mediterranean
Research Learning
Center

Death
Valley Natural History
Association

Death
Valley ROCKS (Recreation
Outdoors Campaign for Kids through Study)

Great
Basin Cooperative Ecosystem
Studies Unit

Hancock Park Elementary School

Harvard University

Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County

National Park Service

Santa Monica College

University of California-
Santa Barbara

University of Nevada- Las Vegas

University of New Mexico

University of Waterloo

West Valley College

 

 

 

 

Interesting Finds
(first three trips):

1)
A new undescribed species of jumping spider;

 

2)
A new undescribed species of amphipod (a shrimp-like crustacean).  This happens to be a blind/cave and
subsurface-adapted aquatic species;

 

3
A recently discovered ant species that is currently being described;

 

4)
An ant species representing a new state record; and

 

5)
A significant range extension for a scorpion species.