Inventory & Monitoring

Scientist uses a dip net to sample benthic macroinvertebrates at the 49 Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park, as part of the program's Selected Large Springs monitoring project.

NPS / Marisa Monroe

Scientific research is key to protecting the natural and cultural wonders of our national parks. To make sound decisions, park managers need accurate information about the resources in their care. They also need to know how park ecosystems change over time, and what amount of change is normal. But park staff can’t do it alone.

Like a physician monitoring a patient's heartbeat and blood pressure, scientists with the Mojave Desert Network collect long-term data on Joshua Tree National Park's “vital signs.” They monitor key resources, like bats, desert springs, integrated upland vegetation, and spring vegetation. Then they analyze the results and report them to park managers. Knowing how key resources are changing can provide managers with early warning of potential problems. It can also help them to make better decisions and plan more effectively.

Studying park vital signs is only part of the picture. Scientific research is also conducted by park staff, other state and federal scientists, university professors and students, and independent researchers. Because many parks prohibit activities that occur elsewhere, scientists can use the parks as areas for determining the effects of these activities where they do occur. Especially in the American West, national park lands often serve as the best model for what a relatively undisturbed landscape looks like.

 

Learn more about monitoring projects

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  Bat Monitoring

  Acoustic monitoring and disease surveillance for white-nose syndrome are the focus of this project.

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  Desert Springs Monitoring

  Scientists measure water quality, water quantity, riparian vegetation, site disturbance, and wet and dry periods at a subset of springs.

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  Integrated Uplands Vegetation Monitoring

  Integrated Uplands monitoring focuses on the Joshua Tree wooded alliance community, which represents a large proportion of the park.

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  Selected Large Springs Monitoring

  This project monitors spring discharge, water quality, water chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates, and springsnails.

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  Spring Vegetation Monitoring

  Scientists monitor vegetation cover, composition, and structure in desert springs riparian areas.

 

Duration:

3 minutes, 1 second

Join Logan and Marisa from the Mojave Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network for a day in the field monitoring desert springs. Learn why these springs are so critical to desert ecosystems and how scientists study these special places.