Award Number:
PR/J Number: R843010R107
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
(Cooperative Agreement # H1200-09-0005)
Park: Petrified Forest National Park
Project Title: Holocene Pollen Analyses for Understanding Long-Term Climate Change at
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.
Funding Amount: $15,000
CPCESU Partner Institution: University of Arizona, Tucson
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Owen Kent Davis, Professor
Department of Geosciences
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721
Phone: (520) 621-7953
Fax:
odavis@email.arizona.edu
NPS Key Official/ATR:
Judy Bischoff, CPCESU Research Coordinator
NAU P.O. Box 5765
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
(928) 523-6638
Fax: (928) 523-2014
judy_bischoff@nps.gov
NPS Project Manager/Subject Matter Expert:
Jason Theuer, Archeologist
1 Park Road
Petrified Forest, AZ 86028
928-524-6229 ext. 268
928-524-3567
Jason_Theuer@nps.gov
Start Date: 09/01/2010
End Date: 12/01/2012
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Abstract:
This project seeks to document changes in vegetative regimes and add to the climatic
record for Petrified Forest National Park for the past +2,000 years. This data will help establish
the climatic record for the classic Ancestral Pueblo period in Petrified Forest, which is poorly
understood for this region. The past 2,000 years witnessed the introduction of agriculture to the
Southwest, its spread to dominance, the development of large sedentary villages of
agriculturalists, and the depopulation of the region until the nineteenth century. Understanding
the changes in climate witnessed by ancestral Pueblo farmers and their adaptive responses will
both further professional scholarship and improve our ability as resource managers to model
climate change and respond to changing conditions within the park.
Data from Petrified Forest NP contribute to the environmental record of the Colorado
Plateau. Current research continues to construct a chronology from the Plateau that documents
shifting vegetative regimes through time. Petrified Forest can provide vegetative and climatic
information for the southern portion of the Plateau, supplementing data recovered from the
Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Chaco Culture NHP.
Dr. Davis will collect pollen samples from two areas in Petrified Forest at sites spanning
the Historic and Classic Pueblo Periods. If possible, we will collect one sample that may extend
to the end of the Archaic period (2,600 B.P). The collection areas may include steep cliffs near
Pinta Siding along the northeastern border expansion, and high-resolution samples from
Rainbow Forest at the southern end of the park. Dr. Davis will collect 100 pollen samples from 2
locations and six radiocarbon samples. This project builds upon research conducted five years
ago by Dr. Davis in the park. The research identified an abundance of high-elevation conifers in
the region during the Medieval Warm Period, which may indicate a wetter climate in the
Southwest. Based on the original findings, the potential for significant regional data is great and
provides an impetus for further investigation.
Keywords:
Global Change/Climatology: Evaluations of Global Change, Climatology, Effects on Plant
Communities, Effects on Animal Communities
Air / Weather / Noise: Impacts on Ecosystem
Vegetation: Grasslands
Cultural Resources: Management
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