Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023)

Publication Date

2022-03-21

Start Date

1965-06-18

End Date

2021-12-31

Revision

2023-09-07

Finger-Higgens, R., Geiger, E.L., Duniway, M.C., and Belnap, J., 2023, Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9MA0LZG.

Type: Publication that references this resource Type: Related Primary Publication

The purpose of these data are to monitor potential changes in vegetation and biocrust cover over time in a protected, never grazed grassland within Canyonlands National Park Needles District. Additionally, this data set allows for the comparison of different dominant grass cover types, both with and without invasion from a pervasive non-native grass, Bromus tectorum. These data were collected and created to establish a record and identify long-term trends in changes of biocrust and vegetation. Additionally, because Virginia Park was previously never grazed, these data also provide an important baseline understanding of how ecosystems across the Colorado Plateau might behave without the disturbance of past and present grazing. Future researchers can also use these data to compare rates of change in vegetation or biocrust across other drylands systems, especially within the greater Colorado Plateau region.

• USGS Data Release Products
• USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC)