Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a place of great diversity. There are five vegetation zones, ranging from semi-arid scrub and grassland to pinion-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, and mixed conifer forest. Northern and southern habitat boundaries for many species overlap in GSENM. Animals that rarely live together share the Monument’s resources, both year round and during migrations.
In order for scientists to study this diversity they need to be able to differentiate one species from another. They do that by using classification, or identification keys.
In this activity you will identify some of the organisms that live in GSENM using classification keys. You’ll even get a chance to create your own key!
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a place of great diversity. There are five vegetation zones, ranging from semi-arid scrub and grassland to pinion-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, and mixed conifer forest. Northern and southern habitat boundaries for many species overlap in GSENM. Animals that rarely live together share the Monument’s resources, both year round and during migrations.
