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<br />Journal of
<br />Arid EnvirOlimenttl
<br />
<br />Editor Emeritus: Professor J.L. Cloudsley-Thompson
<br />Executive Editors
<br />
<br />Professor Charles F. Hutchinson Professor Walter G. Whitford
<br />Office of Arid Land Studies USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range
<br />University of Arizona. AZ. USA New Mexico State University. NM. USA
<br />(h/tll/li'~.1 tIIll) .1II1"ni.,.,ulII., "" Academic Press Editorial Office. Block A2. Westbrook Centre.
<br />Milton Road. Cambridge CB4 lye. UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1223 329933; Fax: +44 (0) 1223460236;
<br />Emaii: JAE@harcourt.com)
<br />
<br />l;;a~."m'
<br />Professor D.S.G. Thomas
<br />Geography and Earth Sciences
<br />Dr A. Agnew
<br />Platlt Sciences
<br />
<br />&lit~ri<l/ B~,rrt)
<br />Dr C. Agnew
<br />Dr R. Avery
<br />Professor R. Balling, Jr
<br />Dr J. Cepeda
<br />
<br />Professor M.J. Delaney
<br />Dr A.C. de SoJ'Z"
<br />
<br />Dr D. Dunkerley
<br />
<br />Profeosor Dr W.V. Engelhardt
<br />Professor W.L. Graf
<br />Ing. Agr. J.C. Guevara
<br />
<br />Dr J. Gutierrez
<br />Professor H. Heatwole
<br />Dr J. Hensc:hel
<br />
<br />Dr M. Timm Hoffman
<br />
<br />Professor R. Jizhou
<br />Dr G.I.H. Kerley
<br />
<br />Professor K.T. Killingbeck
<br />
<br />Dr H.N. Le Houerou
<br />Dr MacKay
<br />
<br />Dr S../. Mihon
<br />
<br />I'role"""r D. Ravelta
<br />nr W.I. R,,"i.......
<br />nr M.K. s......I.y
<br />I'ro.;".....r I'. Shaw
<br />I'rof........r .I.n. Ski"n.','
<br />
<br />Dr I..... S,,,,II""''''''g
<br />Dr .1. S\,'wnr,
<br />Dr 1'. 'Iiv"r
<br />
<br />0,'1". Zhu
<br />
<br />Shellield Centre for International Drylands Research. University of'
<br />Shel1ield. UK
<br />Herbarium Institute of' Biology. University of Wales. Aberystwyth. UK
<br />
<br />Dep" 01' Geography. University College London. UK
<br />University of Bristol. School of Biological Sciences. UK
<br />Office of Climatology. Arizona State University. USA
<br />Departmento di Biologia. Universidad de la Serena. Casilla 599.
<br />La Serena. Chile
<br />School of Environmental Science. University of Bradford. UK
<br />Head 01' TERC, Environmental Research and Wildlife Development
<br />Agency. PO Box 45553. Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates
<br />Dept, 01' Geography & Environmental Science. Monash University.
<br />Melbourne. Australia
<br />Physiologisches Institut. Tierarztliche Hochscule Hannover. Germany
<br />Dept, of Geography. Arizona State University. USA
<br />IADIZA.lnstituto Argentino de Investigacione. de las Zonas Aridas.
<br />Mendoza. Argentina
<br />Departamento de Biologia. Universidad de Ia Serena. Chile
<br />Department of Zoology. North Carolina State University. USA
<br />Desert Research Foundation of' Namibia. PO Box 20232.
<br />Windhoek Namibia
<br />National Botanical Institute. Private Bag X7. Claremont 7735.
<br />South Africa
<br />Chinese Academy of Engineering. Lanzhou. Republic of China
<br />Director. Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit. University of Port
<br />Elizabeth. PO Box 1600. Port Elizabeth 6000. South Africa
<br />Dept. of Biological Sciences. Ranger Hall. University of Rhode Island.
<br />Kingston. RI 02881. USA
<br />Montp.llier. France
<br />Dept. of Biology. University of Texas ar EI Paso. EI Paso. TX
<br />79968-0519. USA
<br />Nature Conservation Department. Universily of Srellenbaseh. 7602.
<br />South Africa
<br />."acultad de Agronomia. Univeraida,l dc Bucnos Aires. Argentina
<br />unl..., lor Ari,l Z....e SlDdieR. Uni\'c....i.v "I' Wlllcs. UK
<br />I )"."rl 1~'"logk,,1 ItcRcan'h Unil "I' NII';;ibi", Swakopmund. Namibia
<br />I )el't. "I' I~,,\'i....nmen'. G"''ll'"''l'h.''lIncl G,."I"I!Y' Universily of Luton, UK
<br />C.'lIln' Ii". Wil.llil". F,,,'olty of Vel,','inlllY 5<:ien,'c, Onderstepoot.
<br />ScUll It Ali.j,.OI
<br />(.:"1\11'40' t'tr l{l'~U"I"(;'" Mllnllgt.'mc.'nl. l~ilU.'nln Univcrt\ily, Ne-w Zealand
<br />().li....1 Fm'I"lo'V I"stillll", O.li"..I. UI\
<br />S,-hunl uf 1':n\"i;'o""H.'nu.1 Moumgl".nu.nl. Uni\'C'I"lCil.y ul' South Au.tralia.
<br />J''':IWl'lon 1..lk,.~. SA !,4)c)!., ^IIKII":.lin
<br />Xinjiltn~ Inl'llilu..' ul' Binlus,v. l:him.'lu.' A,,',u.lctn,V af Sciencea. Xinjiang,
<br />P""pl.,. 1{"I,,,!'li., Ill' Chill"
<br />
<br />.IOUltN^I.()Io" ^tUI.I~NVIIU)NI\\I~N'I'S: ISSN 1I,..n.I'k..'\,
<br />
<br />7..",'",,/ ol Arid IinvironmenlS (2001) 49: 1-4
<br />.1..1:10, 100C,/jarc.200L0831, available online at http://www.idea1ibrary.com on IIE~l@
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<br />
<br />Introduction
<br />
<br />Edward P. Glenn*, Christopher Leet Carlos Valdes-Casillast
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<br />>I- Environmental Research Laboratory, 2601 East Airport Drive,
<br />Tucson, Arizona 85706, U.S.A.
<br />1'Department of Geography, California State University at Long Beach,
<br />1250 Bellflower Road, Long Beach, California 90840 U.S.A.
<br />t Instituto. Tecnologico ,y de Estudios. Superiores de Monterrey, Bahia de
<br />Bacochibampo, Postal 484, Guaymas, Sonora 85400, Mexico
<br />
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<br />
<br />This special issue of the Journal of Arid Environments is devoted to the delta of the
<br />Colorado River in Mexico, one of the world's great desert estuaries. The delta, in the
<br />heart of the Sonoran Desert, receives less rainfall than any other location in North
<br />America. This volume presents 14 original, peer-reviewed papers on the ecology and
<br />conservation biology of the river in its final, 140-km passage from the United States-
<br />Mexico border to the sea (Fig. 1). These papers mark a renewed interest in the delta
<br />natural areas following 20 years of water releases from the United States to Mexico.
<br />These so-called waste flows have had an unanticipated effect; they have revived
<br />wetland and riparian habitats which have become rare on upstream portions of the river
<br />(Glenn et al., 1996). This special issue documents the water sources, the 'habitats and
<br />their water requirements and probes policy issues affecting their future. Much of
<br />the research presented in this volume was first presented in summary form at a public
<br />symposium held in Riverside California, in October 2000, titled'... to the Sea of Cortez:
<br />Nature, Water, Culture and Livelihood in the Lower Colorado River Basin and Delta' .It
<br />was sponsored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and was organized by the
<br />University of Arizona's Udall Center and the University of California's UC-MEXUS
<br />Program.
<br />Godfrey Sykes, engineer, cowboy, explorer, and author of several early studies of the
<br />Colorado River Delta in the first half of the 20th century, opened one paper with the
<br />statement 'It can truly be said of the Colorado that it is the most seen but least known of
<br />all the great Western rivers' (Sykes, 1937). This comment was made in advance of the
<br />era of dam building that radically transformed the untamed flow of the Colorado and at
<br />the same time provided significant information as to the river's characteristics. However,
<br />the enigmatic quality attributed to the river by Sykes is still applicable to the river's delta.
<br />In an age of increasing access to, and knowledge of, much of the Earth's surface,
<br />the Colorado River Delta remains an area that is visited by few, and understood by
<br />still fewer.
<br />The great sediment transport system that was the untamed Colorado has been
<br />repeatedly dammed and it's discharge heavily managed. An area referred to as a 'jaguar-
<br />infested jungle' by AIdo Leopold in the 1920s (Leopold, 1949) became a barren, salt
<br />encrusted tidal flat by the 1960s only to spawn new wetlands and riparian forests in the
<br />1 970s that are now the largest such habitats in the Sonoran Desert. Before dams, river
<br />discharges reached 7000 m3 s - I and transported sediment at a rate that has resulted in
<br />deposits 5 km thick in some areas. During the Quaternary alone, a cone of sediments
<br />covering more than 7700 km2 formed at the mouth of the river. These same flow rates
<br />
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<br />0140-1963/01/090001 + 04 $35.00/0
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<br />iCl 200 I Academic Press
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