Alpine Community

Life above treeline is precarious. Plants and animals in the alpine community must adapt to an environment of extremes, including scant soil, intense solar radiation, short growing season, extreme temperatures, heavy snow cover and fierce winds. Survival in this harsh environment requires that plants use unique strategies and adaptations to overcome these limitations.

Over 1,000 species of vascular plants grow in Grand Teton National Park and the surrounding area. Soil conditions, availability of moisture, slope, aspect, and elevation all determine where plants grow. Plants that require similar conditions are often found growing in the same area. Animals depend on plants within a community for food and shelter. The plants in an area often determine the animals that occur in that area. These associations form various wild communities.

With varied elevations and a variety of wild communities, Grand Teton National Park is home to over 60 species of mammals. Large ungulates like moose, elk, mule deer, bison, and pronghorn are commonly seen along park roads. Although less common, large predatory mammals such as grizzly bears, black bears and coyotes are also regularly seen, while wolves and mountain lions are more elusive. Smaller mammals are abundant in the park, and species such as Uinta and golden-mantled ground squirrels, least chipmunks, red squirrels and pikas are commonly seen. Look for muskrats, beavers, or river otters in wetland communities. Bats frequently cruise above waterways for insects. Every wild community has its own assemblage of mammalian species.

Birds in Grand Teton National Park are varied and abundant with over 300 species having been observed in the park. Birds are most abundant during the spring and fall migration, although over 60 species regularly breed in the park. For the avid bird watcher the park can be a good place to observe a number of Rocky Mountain and Western species including the trumpeter swan, cinnamon teal, Barrow’s goldeneye, Swainson’s hawk, greater sage grouse, dusky (blue) grouse, great gray owl, broad-tailed and calliope hummingbirds, violet-green swallow, Steller’s jay, black-billed magpie, Clark’s nutcracker, mountain chickadee, dipper, mountain bluebird, yellow-headed blackbird, western tanager and rosy finch. Other commonly seen birds in the park include common merganser, bald eagle, osprey, sandhill crane, common raven, yellow and yellow-rumped warbler.

Insects and other invertebrates are some of the most abundant and most important animal groups in the park. There are over 10,000 species of invertebrates in the park. These animals play important roles in wild communities - insects function as pollinators of the park’s abundant wildflowers, while insects and other invertebrates, are food for mammals and birds from the largest grizzly bear to the smallest warbler. Invertebrates act as critical decomposers and nutrient-recyclers and cause important plant diseases.