Riparian areas in Arizona have been centers for man's activities such as farming, cattle grazing, recreation, wildlife habitat, water, and cities, since the early 1800's. Representing less than one percent of Arizona's land resource base, riparian areas have received a disproportionately high amount of use and abuse. Public and private awareness of the necessity to preserve and manage riparian areas was aroused in the late 1960's by the Arizona Fish and Game Department and United States Forest Service with a study documenting that clearing of riparian areas was detrimental to wildlife habitats. Since the early 1970's national conferences, studies, and legislation concerning protection, preservation, and management of riparian areas have demonstrated the increasing public interest for riparian areas. Proper management of riparian areas requires land managers to have information on the environmental parameters active in these areas. Riparian areas have been studied since the 1930's, but early studies looked mainly at how to increase water yields from riparian areas through vegetation management. It has only been since the 1970's that studies have been aimed at protection and preservation of riparian areas. This dissertation documents an added effort to broaden the existing knowledge on riparian areas in the southwest. A riparian area bordering Paige Creek in southeastern Arizona was monitored for 24 months. Environmental data (e.g. precipitation, streamflow, watertable levels, soils, soil water status, and vegetation) were collected and analyzed with the objective, to determine if soil moisture content could be used as an indicator of a riparian area in the absence of typical riparian vegetation. Statistical tests indicated soil moisture in the upper 48 inches of soil could not be used to indicate the riparian area. The position of existing riparian vegetation was controlled by the location of the watertable. Unless the location of the free water supply is known, soil moisture readings alone could prove misleading.

This thesis integrates wildlife management and biology, urban residential development, and the hydrology of desert watercourses. Literature is surveyed within each area and information is applied to the issue of wildlife conservation in urbanizing areas of Eastern Pima County. It is recognized that some natural wildlife habitats and wildlife species are valued by urban residents. Valuable areas of wildlife habitat are being lose due to conventional residential development strategies. This paper discusses the impact of typical residential development on native Southwestern wildlife species and habitat. Alternative development design guidelines are proposed which would provide viable wildlife habitat within developed areas. Design guidelines which are presented in this paper are applicable to low elevation arid areas in the Southwest where developers are seeking to integrate natural wildlife habitat within residential areas.

Riparian wetlands are among the most valuable landscapes in the arid southwest. Since they are sources for water and green vegetation, they are unique compared to surrounding desert landscapes. They also offer the potential for a wide range of commodity and non-commodity based land uses. In a rapidly urbanizing setting, commodity based uses such as housing, retail, and industrial development often come into conflict with non-commodity based uses such as recreation and wildlife, water and nature preservation. The purpose of this study was to deduce public value orientations toward the rapidly urbanizing riparian landscapes of Tucson, Arizona through an assessment of residents' attitudes and perceptions regarding those landscapes. Theoretical constructs addressing the relationship between attitudes and perceptions and varying conditions of residential setting, proximity, familiarity, and human influence in the landscape were also assessed. Data were collected by mail survey and by a photo-surrogate landscape assessment technique which provided data on scenic quality and the appropriateness of various land uses. Results indicate that the strongest differences across residential settings, proximity, familiarity, and human influence occur for perceptions of existing landscape conditions. Weaker differences occur for perceptions of change and opinions on planning, management, and growth. No differences were found on land use preferences. Although perceptions differ about what currently exists in the landscape, respondents are unified in their preferences for future land use. This suggests that landscape assessments based only on perceptions of existing conditions may not accurately reflect public values for future land uses. Public value orientations were found to be associated with: (1) careful planning to control growth; (2) conservation of water resources; (3) preservation and rehabilitation of natural vegetation, wildlife habitat, open space, and other non-commodity resources, and (4) development of compatible flood control structures. Results suggest that the changes occurring in the study area are incompatible with respondents' preferences for future land uses.

No description available.

Riparian forests, which support rich biological diversity in the North American southwest, have experienced a sharp decline in the last century. The extent of this decline has been estimated to range from 70% to 95% across the southwest (Johnson and Haight, 1984). The principal components of riparian forests which sustain a broad spectrum of species and describe the overall health of a system are cottonwoods (sp. Populus) and willows (sp. Salix). The importance of cottonwoods is aptly described by Rood et al (1993): "....these trees provide the foundation of the riparian forest ecosystem in semi -arid areas of western North America. Unlike wetter areas to the east and west, a loss of cottonwoods in these riparian areas is not compensated through enrichment from other tree species. If the cottonwoods die, the entire forest ecosystem collapses." Cottonwood and willow species are adversely affected by anthropogenic influences ranging most prominently from the introduction of regulated flows via dams to agricultural clearing, water diversions, livestock grazing, and domestic settlement. These influences effectively alter the system hydrology that the forests rely upon. As the widespread destruction of these forests and the associated irreparable damage to endangered species habitat has come into clear view in the past decade, research efforts have focused upon identifying the ecological needs of riparian systems. The potential of modifying such systems to soften the human impact upon them, in effect presenting further alterations on a hydrologic system to return it to its natural regime, is another component of the research on riparian systems. The Bill Williams River riparian corridor, near Parker, Arizona (Figure 1.1), contains the last extensive native riparian habitat along the lower Colorado River (BWC Technical Committee, 1993). This unique resource was established as the Bill Williams River Management Unit, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge in 1941 and covers 6105 acres along the lower 12 miles of the Bill Williams River (Rivers West, 1990). The Bill Williams Unit is currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of Interior. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also funded this research effort. The lush vegetation corresponding to the wetland conditions along the valley floor sharply contrast with the Sonoran desert landscape of the upper valley walls creating a magnificent picture. The Management Unit terminates at Lake Havasu, which forms the confluence of the Bill Williams and Colorado Rivers. The system provides habitat for a wide variety of species, many of which are endangered or state- listed species, including habitat for neotropical migratory birds. This habitat has undergone serious degeneration during the past quarter century. The recruitment of cottonwood and willow trees has been fatally interrupted by anthropogenic encroachment in the form of the construction of Alamo Dam in 1969 at the head of the Bill Williams River and commercial development along the River.

Cooperation Agreement No. CA 8000 -2 -9001 Work Order No. 8039 -2 -9001 / Within Saguaro National Park only Rincon Mountain District contains significant riparian areas. The geologic framework of the Tanque Verde Ridge and Rincon Valley exerts strong control on the hydrology of these riparian systems. Pantano fault constitutes a line of hydrogeologic separation between the occurrence and utilization of groundwater in the Rincon Valley and the main Tucson basin. No known, comparable fault isolates the upper Tanque Verde Creek alluvium from downstream pumping effects. However, east of the confluence with Agua Caliente Wash, the highly permeable alluvial materials are much thinner, and serve to dampen such downstream effects. Therefore, the ground water reservoirs supporting the riparian areas within Rincon Mountain District are not directly connected to the Tucson basin aquifer. In what is described herein as upper basin areas, high gradient tributary streams to Tanque Verde Creek and Rincon Creek have discontinuous bodies of shallow alluvium interspersed with bedrock channel. Alluvium has accumulated behind small faults or resistant bedrock ledges and contains shallow ground water basins that support small pockets of riparian or xeroriparian vegetation. The ground water in these small basins is sustained by seeps or springs, and by runoff from precipitation and is not likely to be connected to a regional ground water system. In what we have characterized as middle basin areas, the stream gradients are less than 25m/km. In these low gradient reaches, the alluvial floodplain sediments are continuous, though not thick, as ledges of more resistant bedrock formations appear in the stream channel. These low gradient reaches contain larger volumes of ground water than the high gradient basins and support more robust riparian vegetation. The ground water in the low gradient reaches is believed to be connected to the regional ground water system. Such a low gradient reach exists in a tributary to Tanque Verde Creek about 1.4 km east of Wentworth Road and extends about 1.6 km into the Park. A similar low gradient reach occurs along Rincon Creek in the Expansion Area, and at the mouths of Chiminea and Madrona Creeks.

The density, diversity, and nest-site selection of riparian breeding birds were studied from 1982 to 1985 in mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and tamarisk (Tamarix chinensis) communites along the Colorado River in northern Arizona. Avian density in tamarisk communities was significantly greater (P=0.052 and 0.024 in 1984 and 1985, respectively) than avian density in native mesquite communities with similar vegetative cover and height attributes. Avian diversity was similar in both communities. Breeding bird densities in tamarisk were higher than those reported from other geographic areas. Vegetation structure and shrub species composition were measured at nest sites of eleven species of riparian birds in a tamarisk community to examine avian habitat relationships. Riparian birds exhibited differences in their choice of nesting habitat. Discriminant analysis indicated that Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii), Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) and Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) were relative generalists in nest site selection, while Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) and Northern Oriole (Icterus galbula) were relative habitat specialists. Bell's Vireo and American Coot (Fulica americana) nested in habitats that were the most different. Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) and Yellow Warbler nested in habitats that were the most similar. Willow Flycatcher and Yellow Warbler consistently used habitat most similar to that used by all other species. Nest placement preferences of six riparian passerines were examined in the tamarisk community to test the null hypothesis that nest placement in any given species of shrub was random. Ninety-five of 105 nests sampled were located in tamarisk. Five of the six species of passerines exhibited a significant preference for tamarisk for nest placement. A highly significant preference for tamarisk was shown by the four species with the smallest median frequency of tamarisk in their nesting habitat. The usefulness of tamarisk for nest placement was higher than that reported from other areas.

Two riparian habitats in southeastern Arizona provide the setting for a study of 127 plants useful to human foragers. A view of plant part availability is based on annual phenological profiles, and on historic and prehistoric records of plant use. Food choice is limited in March and April, but high August through November. Riparian plants also offer numerous non-food resources. Trees and shrubs serve more needs in relation to number of available species than do perennial herbs (including grasses) and annuals. Southwestern ethnographic literature hints that certain native taxa (Panicum, Physalis, Populus, Salix, Typha and Vitis) might receive special care. Inherent qualities of parts, coupled with ethnographic records of preparation and use, provide a basis for speculation on which parts might survive in an ancient record. Most are expected to disintegrate in open sites. Parts sought for different needs can enter a dwelling via diverse routes that produce confusingly similar archaeological debris. Modern experiments to wash pollen from 14 separate harvests permit evaluation of plant fruit and leaves as pollen traps, to help interpret pollen recovered from ancient dwellings. High amounts of Berberis, Rumex and Ribes pollen, sometimes in clumps or as tetrads, travel on harvested fruit. Arctostaphylos, Monarda, Oxalis, Rhus, Rhamnus, Vitis and Juniperus parts carry lower amounts. Quercus and Gramineae pollen grains travel on parts of other taxa, as well as on their own fruit. The phenological profiles offer insight into group life-form activities in response to local temperature and precipitation trends. Rising and maximum temperatures coincide with intense vegetative and reproductive activity for trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Increased levels of precipitation coincide with maximum flowering and fruiting of herbaceous perennials and fall annuals. Limited data on six taxa from Utah generally agrees with observations in this study, suggesting strong genetic control in the phenology of some riparian taxa.