Cenozoic Paleobotanical Resource Inventory of the National Park System

In this Element, the authors present a baseline inventory of the Cenozoic paleobotany of the National Park System as a first step in stimulating new research, curation, and outreach projects that utilize these resources.

The National Park System encompasses geological exposures that preserve globally significant paleobotanical resources. These paleobotanical resources represent a broad temporal, geographic, stratigraphic, and taxonomic distribution and pose a variety of management, research, and curation concerns. In this Element, the authors present a baseline inventory of the Cenozoic paleobotany of the National Park System as a first step in stimulating new research, curation, and outreach projects that utilize these resources. The authors describe the stratigraphic, taxonomic, spatial, and temporal distribution of Cenozoic paleobotanical resources in 74 National Park Units and show that these resources vary widely in their significance and management needs. Their baseline inventory elucidates what resources need intensified management protocols and celebrates the success stories of NPS paleontological resource management that make NPS lands an essential archive of North American paleobotanical history.