Natural History
The natural history of the Entrada Field Station is typical of the spacious "redrock country" that typifies the Colorado Plateau. The field station is a wonderful combination of open bottomlands with the Dolores River and its riparian vegetation, flat salthbush and greaswewood scrub desert vegetation, and several box canyons of varying length that are dominated by desert scrub and juniper vegetation. Adjacent to the Entrada Field Station are extensive BLM lands that span from salthbush and greaswewood scrub desert vegetation at lower elevations through pinyon-juniper woodlands and upper elevations.
The Entrada Field Station has a long history of human use, with clear evidence of Native American habitation as well as structures revealing the rich ranching history since the first settlements in the late 1860's. Original homestead structures still survive and provide a glimpse into the history and challenges of life in this arid region.
The Entrada Formation dominates the landscape of the field station and provides an excellent "entrance" opportunity to learn about the geological features of the Colorado Plateau. The field site is rich in geological history and the stratigraphic column in the area around Entrada Field Station extends from the Late Triassic up into the early Cretaceous.
To get a glimpse at the breadth of the biological diversity, here are some of the organisms found at the Entrada Field Station:
| Aquatic Insects Terrestrial Insects |
Fish Reptiles and amphibians Birds Mammals |
Plants Plant Communities |
