Plants

 

Riparian wetland vegetation transitions into blue spruce forest along San Antonio Creek.

NPS/Sarah Hall

Valles Caldera National Preserve's elevation range between 8,000 and 11,254 feet fosters a diversity of plant communities. This topographic mosaic of expansive valley meadows, lush forested volcanic domes, riparian wetlands, and old growth Ponderosa pine groves are in striking contrast to the arid New Mexico landscapes at lower elevations.

Plant Communities

Riparian wetlands at Valles Caldera include the marshy meadows, fens, bogs, vernal pools, springs, and seeps that occur in the large, open, low-gradient landscape areas. About 8% of Valles Caldera's land area can be classified as wetlands. A variety of sedges (Carex spp.), cinquefoil (Potentilla spp.), rushes (Juncus and Eleocharis spp.), and longleaf pondweed (Potamogeton nodosis) comprise Valles Caldera's wet meadows.

According to Muldavin and Tonne (2003), the edges of the intermittent and perennial streams at Valles Caldera support a diverse layer of over 40 grasses and forbs, most of which are aquatic plants. The most common ones are Canada reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), Fendler's waterleaf (Hydrophyllum fendleri), seep monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), Columbian monkshood (Aconitum columbianum), and Fendler's cowbane (Oxypolis fendleri).

 

The rolling montane grasslands, or valles, are the reason for Valles Caldera's name.

NPS/L. Ray

Montane grasslands or meadows contain predominantly grass and grass-like species. Trees are usually absent or rare. However, montane grasslands are vulnerable to encroachment of trees due to changing climate, historic grazing practices, and the absence of low-severity and frequent fires. Montane grasslands will often burst with wildflowers during the warmer months when sunshine and rainfall are abundant. At Valles Caldera, the greatest variety of wildflowers can be found in July and August.

Approximately 22% of Valles Caldera is classified as lower elevation montane grassland. Upland bunch grasses dominate, but scattered stands of trees or shrubs are present where disturbances have occurred or where a low fire incidence exists.

 

A quaking aspen grove on Rabbit Mountain.

NPS/L. Ray

Montane forests of the American Southwest are generally divided into four forest types based on the dominant tree species. With increasing elevation, they include three coniferous forests: ponderosa pine forest, mixed conifer forest, and spruce-fir forest. The fourth forest type is quaking aspen forest, a deciduous forest that grows in areas of past disturbance, primarily at the elevation of mixed conifer forest. Valles Caldera National Preserve contains all four montane forest types with the following percentages of land area covered:

• Ponderosa pine forest: ~10%
• Mixed conifer forest: ~40%
• Spruce-fir forest: ~8%
• Quaking aspen forest: ~6%

The mid-elevation mixed conifer forests occupy the largest area of Valles Caldera and include dry and moist mesic forests and woodlands, as well as blue spruce (Picea pungens) stands that occur along the fringes on north aspects of mountain slopes. The ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, which are between the mixed conifer forests and upper montane grasslands, occupy the forest zone’s lower elevations.

Learn more: Montane Forest Vegetation in the Southwest (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

 

A felsenmeer along the slope of Redondo Peak.

NPS/R. Parmenter

Felsenmeer rock fields are exposed rock outcrops or scree fields that make up only about 1% of Valles Caldera National Preserve's land area. A felsenmeer is a unique environment characterized more by rocks than by plants. Growing conditions for plants are harsh because the poorly developed soils don’t hold much water. This community provides some of the best habitat at Valles Caldera for the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a cute, but climate-sensitive, mammal.

 

Species Checklist

 

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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.

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Species attribute definitions

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A prescribed burn in the Jemez Mountains.

Photo courtesy of USGS

Fire Ecology

Native plant communities across the Jemez Mountains have evolved alongside periodic fire for eons. Wildland fire can deter invasive species from taking hold and provide further ecosystem benefits like nutrient cycling, boosting soil fertility, stimulating new plant growth, promoting seed germination, and improving habitat for fire-adapted native species. However, as Anglo-European settlement burgeoned across North America in the 19th and 20th centuries, naturally-occurring fires were often suppressed to protect life and property. This altered native plant communities across the Jemez Mountains and beyond.

Today, Valles Caldera National Preserve implements prescribed forest treatments (controlled burns) that are meant to mimic a natural fire interval. To learn more about wildland fire's role in the restoration of Valles Caldera's native plant communities, visit our Wildland Fire webpage.

For a comprehensive history and ecology of fire in the Jemez Mountains, see: StoryMap: Fire in the Jemez Mountains.