Pr. Krausman et al., DESERT MULE DEER USE OF ALTERED VEGETATION ALONG THE HAYDEN-RHODES AQUEDUCT, ARIZONA, The Southwestern naturalist, 38(3), 1993, pp. 206-211
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) delivers Colorado River Water to Pho
enix and Tucson, Arizona, via a series of canals. This canal system ha
s disrupted the natural flow of water in washes that run north to sout
h. We examined vegetation on the north and south sides of the CAP to d
etermine vegetation changes resulting from the construction of the can
al. We sampled washes with line intercept transects on the north and s
outh side of the CAP and compared them to the surrounding desert. We e
stimated deer activity in these areas from track plots, aerial surveys
, and locations of radio-collared deer. Vegetation composition, cover,
and the width of washes and associated riparian areas were higher (P
< 0.05) on the north side of the CAP than on the south side. Deer use
of the washes was infrequent but increased during hot dry periods.