Navajo Generating Station ecological baseline studies. Annual report, 1 Jun 1971--31 May 1972

A six year study of the probable environmental impact of electric generating stations (the Navajo Generating Station under construction and the planned Kaiparowits Generating Station) in the Kaiparowits Basin was initiated. There were three main objectives during this first year of study: (1) to produce an inventory of native plant and animal species; (2) to accumulate descriptive data on the predominant vegetational communities and environmental factors; and (3) to begin a study of the impact of the construction of the power plants. Emphasis was placed on representative desert communities: blackbruch shrubland, sand dune shrubland, grassland, and pinyon-juniper woodland. Collections from the area include 609 species of vascular plants, of non-vascular plants, and of invertebrates that were previously unknown in the area. Aggregates of soil fungi species were characteristic of communities of higher vegetation in which they were found. Soil algae diversity was low and species tended to be restricted to surface levels. Several potential nitrogen fixing bacteria and algae were found. Analysis of soil and of water from seeps and springs was carried out. Biotic change resulting from natural events and human influences is discussed.