Ecological Monitoring at Gateway Arch National Park

January, 2025
by Laurie Sax, class of spring 2024

Ecological Monitoring

In the summer months, Gateway Arch National Park is busy with ambling tourists and locals alike. Of course, the primary draw to the park is the iconic Arch, but many visitors also explore the green space surrounding the Arch and visitor center during their visit. The park is open all year long, and while the winter brings less foot traffic, there still is much to see and enjoy. I spent some time this morning at the park as an ecological monitor volunteer.

Ecological monitoring is a volunteer role in which community members and master naturalists collect data using the iNaturalist app about the animals and insects in the park. The data collected helps the National Park Service learn which creatures are present and how they live and interact with the native plants and urban landscape. Interestingly, all of the native plants in the park have been cultivated (planted there), so while they are not the taxa the volunteers collect data on, the native plants provide valuable habitat to birds, mammals, and insects in a place where habitat is hard to come by. 

Today, I collected IDs on eight species of birds that I could identify, and one hawk that soared about 20 feet in front of me and much too swiftly for me to be able to properly ID it. I enjoyed seeing one of our winter migrators, the dark eyed junco, as well as our year-round residents: Northern cardinals, house sparrows, downy woodpeckers, robins, mourning doves, and pigeons. I also caught sight of several European starlings, an invasive species. 

In addition to birds, I saw several squirrels, and tracks in the snow that I believe belong to rabbits and deer. No insects this time, but that makes sense for this time of year! I’m really enjoying monitoring the winter birds today. Winter is a great time to slow down and be immersed in the quieter natural surroundings, even though the hustle and bustle of spring is not too far away!