The Midden
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The Midden is the resource management newsletter of Great Basin National Park. Both the current issue and back issues are available on this website. Scroll down to find PDF files of complete issues or html files of specific articles. All files are uploaded in PDF, readable with Adobe Acrobat Reader, unless otherwise noted. Some Middens are available in two different sizes. The smaller file version will upload more quickly, but photos may be of poor quality. The larger files will display all photos clearly, but may take longer to download. Current Issue: Winter 2012 (small - 1.3MB) -------or------ Winter 2012 (large - 10MB) 
Woodrat, also known as a packrat NPS PHOTO A midden is a fancy name for a pile of trash, often left by pack rats.Pack rats leave middens near their nests, which may be continuously occupied for hundreds, or even thousands, of years. Each layer of trash contains twigs, seeds, animal bones and other material, which is cemented together by urine. Over time, the midden becomes a treasure trove of information for plant ecologists, climate change scientists and others who want to learn about past climatic conditions and vegetation patterns dating back as far as 25,000 years. Great Basin National Park contains numerous middens. |
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Did You Know?
There are 11 species of conifer trees, 71 species of mammals, 18 species of reptiles, 241 species of birds, 8 species of fish, and over 800 species of plants in Great Basin National Park and the neighboring valleys.