PAPAGO INFLUENCES ON HABITAT AND BIOTIC DIVERSITY: QUITOVACOASIS ETHNOECOLOGY

Abstract

Quitovac, Sonora, is an oasis and Papago Indian community in the U.S., Mexico borderlands, 54 km from an analagous oasis, Quitobaquito, in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Comparison of the two sites provides insight into how traditional Papago subsistence and land use affects habitat and biotic diversity. Quitovac's springs and modified lagoon have been utilized by Papago farmers for centuries. Around these peren­ nial water sources, Papago land and plant management practices created eight large scale and two small scale vegetation associations. These provided habitat for a diversity of plants, birds and mammals, many of which the Papago harvest for utilitarian or religious purposes. Over 138 species of plants, 14 mammals and 103 birds are documented from a 5 ha study site at the oasis. The concentration of utilized species in certain habitats clearly affects how these habitats are managed. Since the initiation of the study, however, a 125 ha area was cleared and levelled for irrigated agriculture. This has dramatically altered life at Quitovac.