Geographic Setting &

             Species Account

•     Vascular Plants

•     Resident Birds

•     Mammals

Geographic Setting

CATAMOUNT CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES is headquartered on the north slope of Pikes Peak in Woodland Park, CO.  Our 200-acre site, surrounded by more than 200,000 acres of protected land, offers an exceptional setting for field studies in a region of noteworthy physical, biological, and cultural diversity.

Geographically, CCGSR is situated on the edge of two great biomes.  Just 20 miles from our mountain campus the expansive Central Short-grass Prairie runs into the Southern Rocky Mountain eco-region.   To our south the Arkansas River  flows out of the high country in a broad valley, isolating the Pikes Peak massif from the Wet Mountains and imposing Spanish Peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Range.  To our west lie extensive montane grasslands, mixed-conifer forests and the 14,000’ Collegiate Peaks.   Two field sites operated by the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs give our researchers access to an additional 700 acres of alpine tundra forest and grassland near the former mining town of Fairplay. 

It is in part this transition between major biomes and life zones that makes our region especially interesting to geographers, ecologists and resource managers. Here plant and animal species push their physiological limits, stretching their ranges to the edge of their tolerances.  It is here that species interactions with both the living and non-living components of their environment are most easily understood.  And it is here that the effects of long-term, regional-scale ecological perturbations, such as climate change, are often seen first. 

But the southern Front Range is also a place of cultural contrasts. Agricultural settlements, mining towns, cattle ranches, and ski resorts form the rural economic base, while the southern Front Range cities of Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Trinidad thrive on mixed industry, several military installations, and notable institutions of higher education.  Where Native Americans, Hispanics and Euro-American settlers lived off the land a century-and-a-half ago, exurbinites collide with traditional rural lifestyles, farmers compete head-to-head with sprawling municipalities for land and water, and conservationists clash with the extractive industries over some of the richest mineral and energy reserves in the country.  This place of extraordinary physical, biological and cultural diversity is truly a living geography laboratory. The Catamount Center is not open for general public use, but if you are interested in conducting research at the site please contact Howard Drossman hdrossman@coloradocollege.edu.

back to top of page

Photo by Tom Huber  2005

Species Account