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State Plans Arizona
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Mexican Highlands
(Area - 3,705,600 ha)
Description - The isolated mountain ranges of southeastern Arizona and
southwestern New Mexico represent the northern terminus of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Elevation determines vegetation, with Douglas fir and pine at higher elevations giving way
to oak-dominated forest at lower elevations. Lowlands surrounding the ranges are desert
grasslands similar to the Sonoran Desert on the west and Chihuahuan desert on the east.Conservation recommendations and needs - A large percentage of the area is publicly owned, particularly at higher elevations. Conservation issues are water use, urban development, overgrazing, and recreation. Because this is the northern tip of a system that extends far south of the border, coordination with Mexico regarding priorities, management, and protection is advisable. In the United States, much of the higher elevation habitats in this physiographic area are publicly owned. In those areas, maintenance of the grass-forb woodland understory, often through use of low-intensity fire, can help improve bird habitat as well as reducing the likelihood of catastrophic fires. There is some evidence that bird watchers, through use of tapes and intrusion into territories, have negatively affected some birds. This may be a minor problem, but nevertheless birders should be encourage to observe birder ethics. In lower elevations, riparian strips should be managed for maintenance of multiple levels of vegetation and cottonwood recruitment. Maintenance of core areas of grassland for breeding and wintering species in the face of “ranchette” development is a high priority conservation need.
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