Publication Details

Year Published

1999

Publication

In: Finch, Deborah M.; Whitney, Jeffrey C.; Kelly, Jeffrey, F.; Loftin, Samuel R. Rio Grande ecosystems: linking land, water, and people: Toward a sustainable future for the Middle Rio Grande Basin. 1998 June 2-5; Albuquerque, NM. Proc. RMRS-P-7. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 211-215.

Abstract

Riparian habitats and wetlands represent less than 2 percent of the land area of the Southwest, but they support the highest density and abundance of plants and animals in that region (Dahms and Geils 1997). Since the latter part of the 19th century, riparian and wetland ecosystems have been severely impacted by human activities such as woodcutting, mining, livestock grazing, and water diversion and pumping (Phillips and Monson 1964, Johnson and Carothers 1982, Tellman and others 1997). In this paper, we examine the likelihood of species endangerment in obligate and preferential riparian-nesting landbirds of the Southwest. Population trends are also reviewed with respect to biogeography, as we distinguish between birds that reach the end of their distribution in the Southwest and those that do not. We report local extirpations and/or population declines for a higher proportion of those species occurring at the northern periphery of their geographic range. We also show an increased likelihood of endangerment for obligate vs. preferential riparian birds. Ultimately, the large number of Southwestern species depending on riparian habitats and/or represented by peripheral populations only underscores the sensitivity of the regional avifauna to riparian habitat degradation.

Keywords

Citation

Cartron, Jean-Luc E.; Stoleson, Scott H.; Johnson, R. Roy. 1999. Riparian dependence, biogeographic status, and likelihood of endangerment in landbirds of the Southwest. In: Finch, Deborah M.; Whitney, Jeffrey C.; Kelly, Jeffrey, F.; Loftin, Samuel R. Rio Grande ecosystems: linking land, water, and people: Toward a sustainable future for the Middle Rio Grande Basin. 1998 June 2-5; Albuquerque, NM. Proc. RMRS-P-7. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 211-215.