Dinosaur National Monument - September 25, 2004
by Molly Smith

     Dinosaur National Monument, located in Colorado and Utah, was established in 1916 to protect the large concentration of complete dinosaur skeletons. Today the Monument, which consists of 200,000 acres, is also concerned about protecting native ecosystems and providing recreational opportunities for many boaters and campers.

     On our visit to Dinosaur National Monument, we spent a day with Tamara Naumann, the park's botanist. The morning discussion focused on weeds in Dinosaur. Tamara pointed out that human definitions of "weed" depend on what plants we care about and assign value or lack of value. For example, a native plant may be labeled a weed because it is not valued in agriculture. Since the Park Service is interested in native ecosystems, they define weeds as non-native species. We specifically talked about tamarisks as a non-native species.

     Tamarisks were introduced from Asia and planted along riparian areas to help prevent and control erosion. We did not know then that desert rivers have evolved to be dynamic with spring flooding. We also did not know that tamarisks would proliferate along the riverbanks and out compete native species for nutrients and water. This domination habit of tamarisks classifies the plant not only as a weed but as an invasive species. An invasive species is a weed that aggressively disrupts native ecosystems. Tamarisks are a huge threat to desert ecosystems because although the riparian areas only account for 1-2% of the ecosystem, they support 60-90% of desert species.

     In the afternoon, we put down our notebooks and picked up saws to wage war on the tamarisks near our campsite. I really enjoyed this "class" because not only did we become educated on an issue, we also took action.