EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We have developed a five-year strategic plan that provides a roadmap for establishing a Colorado Plateau All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CP-ATBI) program, focused on Parks and Monuments managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

The ATBI program will greatly aid in biodiversity conservation and educate future generations about our natural legacies.  The initial phase of the program will identify the level of interest and ability to support ATBI activities at parks across the Colorado Plateau. Intensive work will be initiated at a few key parks, while promoting ATBI activities at all participating sites across the Colorado Plateau.  The Colorado Plateau ATBI program will embrace the “Parks and Monuments for Science, Science for the Parks and Monuments” theme and work in conjunction with the national ATBI effort, the NPS Inventory & Monitoring Program, and the BLM National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS).

INTRODUCTION

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park estimated that without a directed effort such as an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), it would take 150 years to identify all the taxa of life occurring in the Park.  We assume that even with an emerging Colorado Plateau-All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CP-ATBI) that it will require decades to accomplish our goal of identifying all species in Federally managed parks and monuments.

There is growing interest among taxonomists and natural resource professionals in establishing an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) on the Colorado Plateau.  ATBI work already underway at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has yielded numerous new species to science as well as a huge outpouring of support and participation by university researchers, schools, volunteers and others.  The success of ATBI efforts at Great Smoky Mountains NP has sparked the imaginations of biologists in other areas of the country including the Colorado Plateau.  The Colorado Plateau is rich in species diversity, but taxa are poorly inventoried beyond vascular plants and vertebrates.

The National Park Service’s (NPS’s) Inventory and Monitoring Networks (I&M Networks) have spent more than five years conducting biological and physical inventories in Colorado Plateau park units.  Over the past 10 years, similar inventories have been conducted in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM)– the first and largest unit in the Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System (BLM NLCS).  These efforts have generally focused on higher plants, vertebrates, and abiotic data collection and analysis, and are now moving into the monitoring phase.  Results from inventories conducted by NPS I&M Networks and GSENM on the Colorado Plateau can serve as a springboard for ATBI activities.  The Colorado Plateau All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory will focus on the other 80% of taxa not previously encompassed by survey efforts,  including invertebrates, fungi, algae, lichens, and microbes. 

The strategic plan presented here is the result of two formal regional meetings, participation in the National ATBI meeting, and numerous informal collaborations among personnel from the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other Federal agencies, as well as university researchers and educators.  The Colorado Plateau ATBI is an extension of the ATBI established for the Great Smoky Mountains.  An overview of ATBI structure and activities is documented at http://www.dlia.org/atbi/ .  A CP-ATBI steering committee was formed from participants in those meetings, and that steering committee is initiating this effort.  There is not a dedicated source of funding for the CP-ATBI and so the degree of success will depend on funding from a variety of sources and the creation of CP-ATBI collaborations to seek new sources of funding.

GOALS

The strategic plan describes eight goals and specific objecti4/9/07reate a functional regional ATBI program.  Below we list goals and estimated timelines for implementation.  Most of these objectives have already been initiated.

Goal 1.  Establish governance structure for a CP-ATBI. (Winter, 2007).

Goal 2.  Work in coordination with the national ATBI consortium. (Spring, 2007).

Goal 3.  Work in collaboration with the NPS I&M program and the BLM NLCS to initiate ATBI activities in parks, monuments, and in conjunction with other agency programs.  (Summer, 2007).

Goal 4.  Assess interest by Colorado Plateau parks and monuments to participate in an ATBI program. (Summer, 2007).

Goal 5.  Create a network of participating taxonomists, ecologists, and educators.  (Fall, 2007).

Goal 6.  Implement Research Program (Spring, 2008)

Goal 7.  Implement Education and Outreach Program. (Fall, 2009)

Goal 8.  Establish Development Program (Fall, 2010)