Amistad National Recreation Area

Paleontologist Christy Visaggi reflects on the fossil record preserved at Amistad National Recreation Area.

Three park units in the Chihuahuan Desert Network, Big Bend National Park (NP), Carlsbad Caverns NP, and Guadalupe Mountains NP are designated as Class I air quality areas under the Clean Air Act. Class I areas receive the highest protection under the act, and degradation of air quality must be minimal. Air quality concerns include atmospheric deposition effects and visibility impairment from fine particle haze.

Amistad National Recreation Area and its surroundings are in a transitional zone between eastern, western, northern, and southern avifaunas, which provides the opportunity to see a wide variety of birds. Over 200 species of birds, both resident and migratory, have been documented at the recreation area.

Three major rivers (Pecos River, Devils River, and the Rio Grande) and the Amistad Reservoir occur in Amistad National Recreation Area (NRA). These diverse terrestrial and aquatic systems contribute to Amistad NRA’s high level of biodiversity. Searches for reptiles and amphibians were primarily focused along the eastern shore of the reservoir.

In 2002, the Chihuahuan Desert Network supported a two-year inventory of the vascular plants in Amistad National Recreation Area by the Wildlife Diversity Program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Join Ranger Kierra as she shares about the crucial roles that Mussel Dogs; Clean, Drain, Dry; education; early detection; and you play in preventing aquatic invasive species invasions at Amistad National Recreation Area and other parks and waterways.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

The Chihuahuan Desert Network is currently developing protocols to monitor several vital signs that may reflect current and future impacts of climate change. This brief offers a summary of how Chihuahuan Desert Network monitoring will detect future change.