CC1

   
                        View at site CC1                                                        (left); typical crust at site CC1 (right).

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy Co., New Mexico, USA.  32º10.675' N latitude, 104º30.421' W longitude; elevation 4554 feet.  Date of sampling: 19 July 1998.

Dominant vascular plants at the site:  Dasylirion leiophyllum, Agave lechuguilla , Muhlenbergia setifolia, Juniperus pinchotii, Notholaena parviflora, Erioponum sp., Bouteloua gracilis, Andropogon sp., Opuntia sp., Acacia greggii var. arizonica, Echinocactus horizonthalonius, Echinocereus pectinatus, Dalea sp., Berberis sp.

Other plants:  Viguiera stenoloba andYucca torreyana.

Mean thickness of algal crust:  5.4 mm
Mean thickness of lichen crust:  9.8 mm

Cover summary:

Type Cover              % Cover
Shrubs                           0.4
Perennial grasses      24.4
Perennial forbs            1.2
Algal crust                   1.2
Lichens                        16.8
Bare Soil                        8.0
Rock                             22.0
Gravel                         10.4
Litter                             1.2
Succulent                      0.4
Notholaena                      0.4

Chlorophyll a (ng/g): 1620
N fixation rate :  58 mmol N2/m2·hr.

Soil texture class:  sandy loam

CC2

                       
            View at site CC2 (left); typical crust at site CC2 (right).

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Eddy Co., New Mexico, USA.  32º11.544' N latitude, 104º23.999' W longitude; elevation 3805 feet.  Up the canyon fro geology exhibit at mile 2.  Date of sampling:  19 July 1998.

Dominant vascular plants at the site:  Yucca torreyana, Opuntia imbricata, Opuntia sp., Fouquieria splendens, Dasylirion leiophyllum, Juniperus sp., Acacia gregii var. arizonica, Notholaena parviflora, Agave lechuguilla, Dalea (3 species), Viguiera stenoloba, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Mexican buckeye.

Mean thickness of algal crust: 9.8 mm
Mean thickness of lichen crust:  12.0 mm

Cover summary:

Type Cover             % Cover
Perennial grasses      2.4
Perennial forbs          0.4
Lichens                     18.7
Bare Soil                     3.2
Rock                          36.7
Gravel                       15.1
Litter                           4.8
Succulent                    2.4
Selaginella                  16.3