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Resurvey of the Vegetation and Soils of
Fishtail Mesa: A Relict Area in Grand
Canyon National Park, Arizona
N. J. Brian
P. G. Rowlands
D. A. Jameson
The vegetation and soils of Fishtail Mesa in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, were studied in May 1958 by
Jameson and others (1962) to provide management information and comparison for similar, grazed areas on the mainland's Forest Service lands. Fishtail Mesa is a 1,084 acre
relict site at an elevation of about 6,000 feet, located in
Grand Canyon National Park. It is characterized by two
major plant communities: a pinyon pine-Utahjuniper woodland and a sagebrush-mutton grass shrubland or steppe. A
resurvey was conducted in May 1996 to compare vegetative
change after 38 years and to evaluate the site for long-term
surveillance of ecological change. Seven and a half, permanent 800 foot "elbs" or line-strip transects were established
in 1958; three and a half in the woodland and four in the
shrubland. Vegetative methodology included line intercept,
Parker loop data, tree data (including stem mapping, height,
and canopy spread within a 20 foot strip centered over the
transect) for all life stages, and three foot square plots
located every 100 feet along the line intercept. A soil survey,
landscape rephotography, comparison of historic aerial photography, estimates of mule deer population, floristic inventory, and preliminary faunal survey of the mesa were also
completed. Global Positioning System coordinate data were
collected to document the elb locations.
The resurvey was made with participation of Jameson,
using the same methodologies. Direct comparisons with the
first survey are difficult due to the loss of the original field
data. Only the 1962 journal article summary is available.
Vegetation has not changed appreciably. On all elbs, a
minor increase was detected for both pinyon and juniper.
There is an apparent increase of pinyon seedling establishment. On the shrubland elbs, sagebrush has declined and
mutton grass has increased, though the latter may reflect a
difference in the minimum measurement unit from 0.1 inch
in 1958 to 0.5 inch in 1996. Other species like joint-fir,
prickly pear, and snakeweed have decreased. No recent
evidence of wildfire was observed, though small groups of
standing dead junipers suggest that fires did occur 80 to 100
years ago.
This information along with field data, photography, and
herbarium samples will be archived in the Grand Canyon
National Park Museum Collection. We recommend the site
be established as a Federal Research Natural Area.
In: Monsen, Stephen B.; Stevens, Richard, comps. 1999. Proceedings:
ecology and management of pinyon-juniper communities within the Interior
West; 1997 September 15-18; Provo, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-9. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station.
N. J. Brian is with the Science Center, Grand Canyon National Park,
Grand Canyon, AZ. P. G. Rowlands is with Resources Management, Organ
Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, AZ. D. A. Jameson (retired) was with
the Rocky Mountain Range and Experiment Station and currently lives in
Trinidad, CO.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999
113