Treesearch

The Rio Grande currently inundates only a small portion of its riparian forests during late spring runoff. Such flood events were once responsible for the germination of cottonwoods and willows along the river, for a mosaic of wetlands mixed with different aged stands of forest, and for enhancement of decomposition and nutrient cycling. River regulation in this century has decoupled the linkage between the floodplain and the river and has led to senescence without replacement of the once dominant native cottonwoods in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) valley. We propose that partial restoration...

The purpose of this panel was to discuss historical and current changes to the Rio Grande system, focusing on the middle Basin, and to present and review different individual, organizational, and political perspectives on the future of the system. Invitations were made to panelists based on their past and current interests and activities pertaining to restoration of the Rio Grande. Invited panelists included Honorable Senator Pete Dominici or a representative from his staff; Jeff Whitney, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coordinator for the Middle Rio Grande Bosque Initiative; Brian Shields,...

Ecosystem management should be based on the fullest possible knowledge of ecological structures and processes. In prehistoric North America, the involvement of Indian populations in ecosystem processes ranged from inadvertent alteration of the distribution and abundance of species to large-scale management of landscapes. The knowledge needed to manage ecosystems today is incomplete without understanding past human involvement in ecological processes, and the adjustments of ecosystems to human components. This paper describes changes in prehistoric land use in part of the Middle Rio Grande...

The development of irrigation agriculture in historic times has profoundly impacted riparian ecosystems in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. A vital relationship has existed between water resources and settlement in the semi-arid Southwest since prehistoric times. Levels of technology have influenced human generated changes in the riparian ecosystems of the Middle Rio Grande Valley.

The riparian wetland vegetation communities of the upper and middle Rio Grande watersheds in New Mexico were surveyed in 1992 through 1994. The communities are hierarchically classified in terms of species composition and vegetation structure. The resulting Community Types are related to soil conditions, hydrological regime, and temporal dynamics. The classification is part of a comprehensive effort to develop a systematic understanding across the state of the diversity of riparian/wetland communities and how they are influenced by specific hydrologic, edaphic and climatic environments. An...

We provide a summary of vegetation changes over a 11-year period (1 984-1 995) in the middle reach of the Rio Grande. Hink and Ohmart (1984) surveyed and mapped riparian vegetation along the middle Rio Grande as part of an extensive biological inventory conducted for the Army Corps of Engineers. We field-assessed and remapped the Isleta-Belen reach in 1995 to determine whether vegetation classes had changed substantially since the Hink and Ohmart survey. Over the past 11 years, the Rio Grande bosque vegetation has aged, and our assessment of structural types documents this aging process....

We investigated avian species richness and abundance within vegetation communities of the Rio Grande Corridor of New Mexico during spring, summer, and fall 1992 and 1993. A subset of 64 transects, for which all bird and vegetation variables were available, representing 16 composite vegetation community types were subjected to canonical correlation analysis to investigate relative habitat importance. Generally, the higher ranking community types had cottonwood and other native woody species as dominants and the lower ranking communities were those types that are highly manipulated and/or...

The Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station initiated a research program in 1994 called. "Ecology, diversity, and sustainability of soil, plant, animal, and human resources of the Rio Grande Basin". This program is funded by an Ecosystem Management grant from Forest Service Research. Its mission focuses on the development and application of new knowledge to sustain ecological systems and human populations in the Middle Rio Grande Basin. Research studies emphasize upland ecology and management, linkages between watersheds and riparian zones, sensitive fish and wildlife populations...

Interest in the condition, role, and sustainability of southwestern riparian ecosystems has increased greatly since the mid 1970's. Reflecting this growing interest is a series of symposia addressing southwestern riparian issues, including those coordinated by Johnson and Jones (1977), Johnson and McCormick (1979), Johnson et al. (1985), and Tellman et al (1993). The proceedings of these symposia tell an important story about the history of riparian ecosystems, documenting changes in water quality, vegetation, fish and wildlife, land use, and human values. Concern for the declining health...

Thank you for your invitation to attend today's panel discussion on "Rio Grande Restoration: Future Directions." I apologize for not being able to attend in person, but I hope you will understand that now is a particularly busy time here in Congress.