ABSTRACT
Riparian corridors, vital to so many wildlife species, were often the primary targets of anthropogenic change, given the importance of water to permanent human population centers. Habitat loss is the most obvious aspect of anthropogenic effects on wildlife, and in the Southwest, it has been especially dramatic in that many organisms historically associated with the most restricted habitat (e.g., riparian corridors) have been significantly affected. Although many wildlife species effectively lose habitat following urbanization, those that respond to the perturbation as habitat alteration experience both pluses and minuses. A major goal for those valuing wildlife and natural (i.e., historic) habitats is to champion alternative interests as equally valuable relative to the traditional utilitarian approaches (ranching, hunting, fishing) of the arid Southwest. Indeed, one obvious conclusion from the investigations reviewed earlier is that setting aside large areas encompassing the range of variation in historic habitats, while eliminating non-native species, would suffice to preserve much of the wildlife of the arid Southwest.
