Stories of the Sky Islands: Exhibit Development Resource Guide for Biology and Geology at Chiricahua National Monument and Coronado National Memorial (original) (raw)

In 2016, the National Park Service will turn 100 years old. In preparation for this centennial, Chiricahua National Monument and Coronado National Memorial are planning new visitor center exhibits. The Arizona State Museum (ASM) was engaged through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) agreement between the University of Arizona and the National Park Service to provide planning support for developing those exhibits. Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge to preserve and protect this “wonderland of rocks” for the enjoyment and education of the American people. Coronado National Memorial was established in 1952 to commemorate Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s 16th century expedition into what is now the United States. The unusual geological formations at Chiricahua and the unique Madrean Archipelago flora and fauna of the sky islands that make up the both Chiricahua and Coronado will be subjects for interpretive display in the Visitor Centers at both parks. To assist the selected exhibit design service in developing appropriate interpretive displays, the Arizona State Museum will provide an overview of current research and scientific understanding of the geology and biology of the two parks. To accomplish this goal, ASM engaged graduate students Erin Elizabeth Posthumus from the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Jesse Minor from the School of Geography and Development, and Adam M. Hudson from the Department of Geosciences as graduate research assistants to prepare background materials for use of NPS staff and exhibit designers. The topics to be developed were defined in discussion with NPS personnel from Chiricahua National Monument and Coronado National Memorial. The goals include:  Preparation of background research to summarize current thinking on major topics that will be interpretive subjects for the Chiricahua and Coronado visitor centers.  An annotated bibliography for each of the topics. The topics include:  The geology and geologic processes that shaped the sky islands.  The biological landscape—including flora and fauna and the forces that shape them, including the sky islands themselves, fire regimes and climatological history and potential climate change effects. Adam Hudson’s overview of geologic information includes a review of the geologic time scale and major time periods and turning points in geologic time, an overview of plate tectonics and the geologic history of southeast Arizona, as well as more detailed information related to the specific geologic history of Chiricahua and Coronado. After this overview, he provides some detail on the life history of the super volcano that created the unusual formations at Chiricahua and on cave formation processes that explicate the life history of Coronado Cave at Coronado. Erin Posthumus’s and Jesse Minor’s stories of the sky islands review the ways in which “island” as metaphor for the local biology parallels and differs from oceanic islands, the fire history of the sky islands, patterns of plant and animal diversity in sky islands, the climatological history of the sky islands and potential effects of climate change on vegetation and wildlife. They also include stories of particular relevance to Coronado, including migration and the responses of wildlife to natural and artificial barriers and the effect of recent activities in the area, including forest fires and construction of an international boundary on the migration and, indeed, survival of the lesser long nosed bat. For each topic an annotated list of key references, as well as a fuller bibliography of recent references is included. The materials should provide interpretive developers and NPS staff, with the most current information on each topic. This is not intended to serve as exhibit text but as information guides for exhibit developers to draw on for interpreting each topic.