Stickers

Original digital artwork stickers by artist Meghan Reker.

•  5.5″ x 5.5″
•  High opacity film that’s impossible to see through
•  Fast and easy bubble-free application
•  Durable vinyl, perfect for indoor use
•  95µ density

Don’t forget to clean the surface before applying the sticker.

www.meghanreker.art

Grand Mesa
Basalt That Filled a Valley

Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, rises to 11,000 feet in elevation above the Colorado River near Grand Junction. Its cool climate, forested meadows, and alpine lakes are a world away from the dry adobe desert at its base. If you want to escape the summer heat, drive across the mesa on CO 65.

The mesa is an excellent example of inverted topography, which means that what is at its top was once the low spot in the topography. At the top of the mesa is basalt that erupted from vents in the Grand Mesa volcanic field to the east around 10 million years ago. Like all liquids, fluid basalt will find the lowest points in the landscape, pooling in and flowing down riverbeds. More than twenty lava flows stacked up, filling in irregularities and cooling into a very flat surface.

Because the ancient riverbed was filled and dammed with volcanic materials, the river changed course and continued to erode the surrounding landscape, removing vast quantities of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rock. The more resistant basalt remained intact, resisting erosion and shielding the softer sedimentary layers beneath it. Now, after 10 million years of uplift and erosion, Grand Mesa stands high in the landscape. Gravels and cobbles deposited by the former river are preserved beneath the lowermost basalt flows, now visible at about 10,000 feet elevation! Features in these river deposits tell us that the river flowed west toward the Colorado Plateau.

Erosion continues to eat away at the sides of the mesa as softer rock beneath the lava cap is eroded. The steep slopes of Grand Mesa are in constant battle with gravity, and landslides are common.

Donahue, Magdalena S, and Marli B Miller. “Grand Mesa.” Colorado Rocks!, Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana, 2021, pp. 43–43.

Prickly Pear Cacti

Prickly pear is a type of cactus that is commonly seen near the Colorado National Monument. These cacti are well-adapted to desert ecosystems and prefer sandy, well-drained soil. Several species of Opuntia are known as prickly pear, including the purple–fruited prickly pear and the potato prickly pear. The range of these species is extensive. Prickly pear can be found growing from Mexico to Canada, and some species grow on the eastern coast of the U.S. as well. It can thrive in a variety of ecosystems, with pads to retain water, spines to protect the plant, and an ability to grow in challenging environments.

The cactus pads are flattened stems, and the spines grow from the point that produces leaves in other plants. Their main function is photosynthesis, water storage, and food production. A waxy coating on the pads helps keep evaporation down to a minimum and dulls the bright green color of the pad to prevent cooking on hot summer days. During a drought, you may see prickly pear pads turn red, which protects the plant from ultraviolet light.

Each pad can survive for around ten years. Prickly pear stems produce an average of one new pad each year. As the old pads die, the new pads can send down roots so the plant can continue mining for nutrients and water. This allows the cacti to spread and inhabit new areas.

Flowers appear in the summer and can be yellow, pink, violet, bronze, or yellow-green. They are made up of one stigma, which is surrounded by hundreds of touch-sensitive stamens. Beetles are one of the main pollinators. When they climb into the flower to forage, the stamens curl in, covering the beetle with pollen. The beetle will then journey on to other flowers, pollinating them as it goes.

During wetter years, prickly pear will produce an edible, sweet-tasting fruit. The animals in the monument appreciate this food source, especially the coyotes. Collecting prickly pear fruit is not permitted in the monument. If you are in a place where collecting is allowed, you can help wildlife by leaving some of the fruit behind on each plant. That will also allow the prickly pear seeds a chance to sprout. Prickly pear are good plants for xeriscaping, with the added benefit of edible fruit for the home gardener. The fruit can be used for jams, jellies, syrups, and juices.

The pads of prickly pear are used as a food source by wildlife too, especially during times of drought. The spiny cacti provide shelter and burrowing sites for rodents. In the summer, the flowers give hikers some welcome splashes of color on the trails. It truly is a versatile plant, able to grow in a range of habitats, and holds a key place in the desert ecosystem.

National Park Service, March 1st, 2022, Prickly Pear, October 2nd 2024, (https://www.nps.gov/colm/learn/nature/prickly-pear.htm)

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Aspen is a medium-sized deciduous tree, commonly 20 to 80 feet tall and 3 to 18 inches in diameter. Trees over 80 feet tall and larger than 24 inches in diameter are occasionally found. Their bark is smooth, greenish-white, yellowish-white, yellowish-gray, or gray to almost white in color. The green color is from chlorophyll in the bark. Their bark may become rough and fissured with age.

Aspen leaves are thin, firm, and nearly round, 1 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. They are pointed at the apex and rounded at the base, with many small rounded to sharply pointed teeth along their margins. Aspen leaves are smooth, bright green to yellowish-green, and dull underneath until they turn brilliant yellow, gold, orange, or slightly red in the fall. The leaf’s small stem (petiole) is flattened along its entire length, perpendicular to the leaf blade. The flattened stem allows the leaves to quake or tremble in the slightest breeze; hence, their name. The leaves of young sucker aspens may be much larger, sometimes 7 to 8 inches long.

Aspen trees usually do not live more than 150 years, though they may persist for more than 200 years. It grows on many soil types, especially sandy and gravelly slopes, and is quick to pioneer disturbed sites where there is bare soil. It grows best where soils are moist and sunshine is plentiful. Aspen is intolerant of shade and does not compete well with more shade-tolerant conifer species.

Quaking aspen is an aggressive pioneer species. It readily colonizes burned areas and can persist even when subjected to frequent fires. In the Central Rocky Mountains, the extensive stands of aspen are usually attributed to repeated wildfires. It may dominate a site until replaced by less fire-enduring but more shade-tolerant conifers.

Quaking aspen is the most widely distributed native North American tree species, growing in greatly diverse regions, environments, and communities. It occurs across Canada, through the United States, to Mexico, in a variety of habitats. In the western United States, aspen is generally found at 5,000 to 12,000 feet elevation. Aspen occurs in extensive pure stands in some areas, while in others, it is a minor component of the forest landscape. Most of the aspen forests in the United States are found in Utah and Colorado, though they are also scattered throughout all of the western states.

Aspen provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including hare, moose, black bear, elk, deer, ruffed grouse, migratory birds, and a variety of smaller animals. Aspen stands produce livestock forage, and biomass, and are a source for a variety of wood products. Aspens are visually appealing, as they provide contrast to the dark conifers during all seasons; and in the autumn, tourists come to the West to see the brilliant fall colors of the aspen groves.

Take some time this year, during the spring, summer, or fall, and visit an aspen stand on one of our western national forests. Find a sunny spot, lay or sit down on the ground, and listen to the trees whisper to one another as they make their quaking sound. The soft whispering rustle of a quaking aspen is unlike the sound of any other tree in the forest.

Quaking aspen is America’s liveliest tree. With just the slightest breeze, its round leaves tremble almost incessantly, like thousands of fluttering butterfly wings.

U.S. Forest Service, How Aspens Grow, October 2nd 2024, (https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/aspen/grow.shtml)

Lichens

Have you ever noticed how the surface of an old log or boulder can be painted with a multitude of different colored organisms? Lichens are among the most common and most overlooked organisms in Rocky Mountain National Park. They grow on rock surfaces, trees, and downed logs, and on the ground; Some even grow free of substrate and blow around like miniature tumbleweeds. Lichens are a partnership composed of two organisms – a fungus and a primitive plant called an alga. Fungi (plural of fungus) are colorless organisms that generally make their living decomposing other organisms, while algae (plural of alga) can make their food by photosynthesis. In the composite association we call lichens, the fungi protect the environment, while the algae provide the food. This kind of arrangement where both organisms benefit from their association is called a symbiotic relationship.

Lichens have been nicknamed “natures pioneer” because they can colonize bare rock and are usually first to establish on newly exposed surfaces. Some even can speed up the weathering process by producing an acid that breaks down rocks and helps form soil. Soil formation is extremely slow and takes not decades but centuries for the rocky substrate to break down. The rocks and minerals where they make their home vary in texture, chemical composition, and water-holding capacity. The park is comprised mostly of metamorphic and granite rocks. The rock lichens you find here are often adapted to colonization on these types of rocks.

Lichens are also very slow growing with some species only adding a few millimeters of growth in a single year. Because they grow slowly, large individual lichens can be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Because they are some of the first “pioneers” to set up residence on newly exposed rock, scientists in other areas of the world have used some of these large lichens to estimate when glacial ice has melted from an area.

While many lichens can be challenging to identify, some that occur in Rocky Mountain National Park are quite easy. Characters used for identification usually include color, texture, or growth form, and the form of the reproductive structures called apothecia. Apothecia are usually small, rimmed cups or disks on the surface of the lichen. Lecidea tessellata is a common gray crust with black apothecia appearing as spots throughout the crust. The word tessellata in its name comes from the Latin word for tiled, like a tiled floor. Candelariella is an egg yolk-yellow colored crust and Caloplaca is a bright orange crust. Pleopsidium is a bright chartreuse-colored lichen that is always found on vertical surfaces. Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca is a somewhat leafy-looking lichen with a pale green color, except for the apothecia which are peach-colored.

Lichens are endlessly fascinating and extremely varied. Next time you are out hiking a trail or enjoying a scenic vista, take a look at the rock surfaces, the logs along the trail, tree trunks, or even up in the tree branches Once you start watching for them, you will find they occur in all sorts of situations. A hand lens or magnifying glass and a field guide can help you start trying to identify them. But beware, even if you don’t try to identify them, you will be amazed by the variety of colors, textures, and shapes you see if you only take time to look at this fascinating compound “organism.” To learn more about the recorded lichens of Rocky Mountain National Park view the Lichens List.

National Parks Service, May 5th, 2018, Lichens, October 2nd,2024, (https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/lichens.htm#:~:text=Have%20you%20ever%20noticed%20how,primitive%20plant%20called%20an%20alga.)