Canyonlands
National Park, Utah (page 1 of 2)
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Cedar Mesa formation, Canyonlands NP. |
In the very heart of the Colorado Plateau lies Canyonlands National Park, a fantastic tableau of bizarre rock formations and colorful slickrock mesas. The park encompasses a rugged landscape dominated by barren rock, with sparse desert plant communities growing on less hostile sites.
Due to the great variation in elevation within the park, species diversity is high; however, with little soil and low annual precipitation rates of 4-10 inches/year, population densities of many species of both plants and animals are relatively low. Saltbush, Indian rice grass and blackbrush are some of the 536 plant species that are adapted to the arid environment of Canyonlands. Among the many animals that make Canyonlands their permanent or seasonal home are mule deer, coyote, bighorn sheep and 25 species of rodents, including woodrats and deer mice. Seventy percent of the living cover in the park is delicate cryptobiotic soil, growing in peaks and valleys over the sand.
Within the park, Cataract Canyon lies at the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Here, along the river corridors, riparian species such as cottonwood and willow shade the rivers' banks, offering important wildlife habitat in this rocky, arid landscape. The exotic species tamarisk, or salt cedar, also grows along the rivers, in many areas dominating streamside habitat previously occupied by native trees.
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Pictographs, Horseshoe Canyon (Barrier), Canyonlands National Par. Image NAU.PH.93.37.492 by Alex or Dorothy Brownlee courtesy of Cline Library Special Collections, Northern Arizona University. |
Canyonlands National Park is rich with signs of past human occupation: archaeological sites, petroglyphs, pictographs, ancient handprints and scattered artifacts such as potsherds and arrowhead chips. Evidence indicates that by 6000 B.C., Archaic peoples inhabited the canyons of this region. These highly mobile hunter and gatherers moved throughout the rugged terrain, following the migrations of game herds and the ripening of wild plants. Most of the archaeological sites dating from the Archaic period are found in the alcoves and caves of the cliffs, where campsites were established and food and other goods were stored, often in finely crafted baskets. A long drought beginning around 4000 yrs B.P. decimated large game populations, forcing the Archaics to turn to birds, rabbits and other small game.
Follow these links to:
Page 2 - Human Settlement and Abandonment in
Canyonlands
References