Natural Resources at Walnut Canyon National Monument

Standing pools in Cherry Canyon are an important water source for wildlife in Walnut Canyon National Monument.

NPS

Walnut Canyon National Monument encompasses 3588 acres (1452 ha) adjacent to the city limits of Flagstaff in north central Arizona. It was established in 1915, to preserve the ruins of Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. The monument was subsequently enlarged several times to fill its current area.

Within Walnut Canyon, ecological communities overlap to form ecotones, bringing together species usually separated by elevation and creating a rare compression of flora/fauna zones. The biodiversity supported by these habitats includes a high concentration of sensitive species and is thought to have contributed to the decision of prehistoric people to settle here. Walnut Canyon contains a narrow stand of broadleaf deciduous forest along the bottom of the canyon and Douglas fir-Gambel oak forest on moist north-facing slopes in the canyon. Drier south-facing canyon slopes support shrubland vegetation, while pinyon-juniper woodland with scattered ponderosa pines and grasslands occupy the areas above the canyon rim.

Four amphibian, 126 avian, 57 mammalian, and 14 reptile species have been documented within the monument. Water resources in Walnut Canyon NM are confined to the narrow canyon bottom through which a stream flows intermittently, fed by springs, seeps, rain, and snow.

Monitored Here

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• Climate
• Riparian ecosystems
• Upland ecosystems

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Species Lists

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Walnut Canyon National Monument

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Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.

Life Zones

Walnut Canyon NM ranges in elevation from 6,220 to 6,910 feet (1,896–2,106 m) and spans the Semi-Desert Grassland/Shrub Steppe, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Ponderosa Pine Forest life zones. Moist north-facing canyon slopes contain microclimates capable of supporting Douglas-fir forest, which is normally associated with the Mixed Conifer Forest life zone. The monument experiences an annual average precipitation of 21.3 inches.

Climate Summary Chart

Charts are an effective way to summarize and graphically represent climate variables. The following chart is based on the diagrams developed for vegetation studies by Walter and Lieth in 1967. Visit our climate page for more information.

Reports & Publications

Inventory Reports

Inventories are point-in-time surveys that help us learn about the resources in our parks. Information obtained through the Southern Colorado Plateau Network’s inventories of park resources helped to establish a base level of data, which has served as a starting point for our natural resource monitoring.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3515 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Monitoring Reports

Our monitoring reports provide the most recent published findings from our field work.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3471 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Protocols

Protocols describe how we monitor. They include a descriptive narrative of what we monitor and why, our field methods, how we analyze and manage our data, and more. All of our protocols are peer reviewed.

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3280 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Find additional documents on our Reports & Publications pages.

Links

Park Flora (SEINet)