A historical assessment of changes in avian community composition from Montezuma Castle National Monument, with observations from the Camp Verde region of Arizona
Van Riper C, Sogge MK, Johnson MJ. 2010. A historical assessment of changes in avian community composition from Montezuma Castle National Monument, with observations from the Camp Verde region of Arizona. Pages 213-267. In van Riper C, Wakeling BF, Sisk TD (ed). Shaping conservation through science and management. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson, AZ. The Colorado Plateau
This chapter is a historical assessment of changes within the 211 bird species that have been recorded as occurring in the National Park Service areas of Montezuma Castle National Monument, including its Montezuma Well unit. There are also observations from the Camp Verde region of the Verde Valley in central Arizona. Information in this assessment is based on an intensive six-year bird-inventory project conducted from 1991 through 1997, entailing more than 600 field hours. While our formal surveys were focused at the Montezuma Castle National Monument (MCNM) complex, we made observations throughout the Camp Verde region. Some of the information collected on this project is detailed in Johnson and van Riper (2004), Sogge and Johnson (1998), and Schmidt et al. (2006). We have also used the published literature (e.g., North American Birds), museum specimens, and information generously provided by individuals with many years of experience birding in the Camp Verde region and at the MCNM complex (see acknowledgments). Based on comparisons with historical data, the abundance and status of several species appear to have changed substantially. We discuss species that have increased in numbers, those that appear to have declined, and possible explanations for those changes. We found that most avian species that increased or decreased over the past several decades have done so over the entire southwestern United States, not only within the National Park Service areas and the Camp Verde region. (Copied verbatim from the book chapter.)
- Type
- Book Chapter
- Authors
- Van Riper, Charles; Sogge, Mark; Johnson, Matthew
- Units
- MOCA
- Keywords
- Animals, Birds, Core, NRCA