Bird population responses to converting chaparral to grassland and riparian habitats [Arizona, phytoecology, tree species, wildlife management]

Twenty-one years after chaparral was converted to grassland and riparian habitat in central Arizona, bird population density ranged from a high of 321 pairs per 40 ha in the riparian stringer to a low of 24 pairs per 40 ha on the grassland, compared to 103 pairs per 40 ha in the chaparral. However, the conversion of 40 ha of chaparral resulted in 38 ha of grassland and 2 ha of riparian habitat. Bird density on both areas together was 37 pairs per 40 ha. Thus although population density, species richness, and diversity were higher in the riparian area when contrasted with the chaparral, there was an overall net difference of 66 fewer pairs per 40 ha in the converted area.