State Wildlife Action Plan for New Mexico

Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow

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Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow

Scientific Name	Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus
Category	D
Taxon	Birds
Climate Change Vulnerability Score	Moderately Vulnerable

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The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) is a small (11-12 cm [4-5 in]) songbird that is found in Mexico, New Mexico, and southern Arizona. In New Mexico, it is known to breed only in the southern Animas Valley and the western Playas Valley in Hidalgo County. It lives in open grasslands and forages and nests on the ground. Perching and some nesting occur in the grass. The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow will experience a high degree of climate exposure and has a high adaptive capacity. Overall, it has a Climate Change Vulnerability Index ranking of Moderately Vulnerable under both Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 Scenarios. The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow’s climate change vulnerability is impacted by distribution factors, which influence its ability to shift in space. It also has documented or modeled responses to climate change that impact its vulnerability score.

Threats and Conservation Actions

ECOREGION

THREAT

Result for: All

Natural System Modifications

As appropriate to local site conditions (e.g., topography, prevailing winds, disturbance history, infrastructure) (Urza et al. 2023) and not in persistent piñon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands (Romme et al. 2009, Darr et al. 2022), thin stands of trees in forests and woodlands to natural or historic densities that reduce the probability of insect and disease outbreaks and stand-replacing wildfires and promote the growth of native understory cover (Redmond et al. 2023). Avoid unnecessary removal of large old-growth trees and snags, which serve as important wildlife habitat (Kalies and Rosenstock 2013); leave some juvenile trees or plant seedlings to promote establishment of new trees (Redmond et al. 2023); use best practices to maintain soil health (e.g., Tomao et al. 2020) including retaining sufficient seed trees and sources of mycorrhizal inoculum (Simard et al. 2021) and limiting pile burning and mastication where possible (Ross et al. 2012); implement landscape- and regional-scale heterogeneity in treatment design (Bradley 2009); and evaluate treatment effectiveness (e.g., McKinney et al. 2022, Davis et al. 2024, Hood et al. 2024), including monitoring local SGCN populations. Potential collaborators: BLM, NPS, USFS, SFD, SLO, non-profit organizations.

Agriculture and Aquaculture Climate Change and Severe Weather Natural System Modifications Pollution Transportation and Service Corridors

Assess the synergistic effects between climate change and other threats to SGCN and their habitats (e.g., Friggens et al. 2019, Parks et al. 2019). Incorporate appropriate climate adaptation strategies and frameworks into projects designed to address these synergistic effects. This may include enhancing connectivity (CEQ 2023), facilitating a species’ innate adaptive capacity (Thurman et al. 2022), enhancing genetic diversity (Powell 2023), considering local adaptation (Meek et al. 2023), or considering whether it is most appropriate to resist, accept, or direct ecosystem transformation (Lynch et al. 2021, Stevens et al. 2021). Projects should acknowledge ecosystem dynamism and incorporate indigenous knowledge (e.g., Roos et al. 2022, Eisenberg et al. 2024), nature-based solutions (Warnell et al. 2023), and experimentation (Guiterman et al. 2022) when appropriate. Potential collaborators: BLM, NPS, USFS, USFWS, USGS, universities, Tribal natural-resource managers.

Agriculture and Aquaculture

Balance irrigation and groundwater demands with the needs of aquatic communities, particularly those supporting native fish, amphibian, and springsnail populations. This may include promoting a transition from irrigated to dryland farming in areas where groundwater pumping and water scarcity threaten SGCN and their habitats. Potential collaborators: BOR, NRCS, USACE, NMOSE, non-profit organizations, private landowners, Tribal natural-resource managers, water-management districts.

Agriculture and Aquaculture Climate Change and Severe Weather Natural System Modifications Pollution Transportation and Service Corridors

Collaborate with interested and willing land managers and private landowners to designate protected areas or implement conservation easements for lands that encompass important SGCN habitats. Potential collaborators: BLM, NPS, NRCS, USFS, USFWS, SLO, non-profit organizations, private landowners.

Natural System Modifications

Design and implement riparian and aquatic habitat restoration projects to benefit SGCN. This may include establishing priorities for habitat restoration and developing reach-specific plans. May also include designing and implementing low-tech, process-based restoration techniques (Wheaton et al. 2019) to restore degraded headwater stream systems and improve SGCN habitat or specific actions such as reintroducing keystone species including American beavers (Castor canadensis) (Baker and Cade 1995, McKinstry et al. 2001, Grudzinski et al. 2022) and restoration and monitoring of self-sustaining populations of North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) and native fishes. Monitor restoration projects to determine effectiveness (Block et al. 2001, Holste et al. 2022) and inform adaptive management. Potential collaborators: BLM, BOR, NPS, USACE, USFS, USFWS, NMED, SFD, SLO, universities, non-profit organizations, private landowners, Tribal natural-resource managers.

Natural System Modifications

Determine amount, status, and trend of upland, aquatic, and riparian habitats; levels of fragmentation; and how SGCN might be affected. Identify appropriate locations and implement projects to enhance habitat quality and connectivity or prevent further fragmentation. This may include re-connecting streams and aquatic habitats that have been fragmented by dams, diversions, and other man-made structures that isolate and preclude movement of aquatic and semi-aquatic SGCN. Remove structures when feasible; otherwise, improve existing infrastructure by incorporating passage features for aquatic organisms (e.g., fish ladders). May also include protecting and promoting the natural establishment, development, and succession of native riparian vegetation by addressing any locally limiting hydrological conditions (e.g., ensuring overbank flooding occurs at optimal times and establishment of early successional vegetation) (Hatten et al. 2010, Greco 2013, Stanek et al. 2021, Wohner et al. 2021). May further include emphasizing restoration in areas that will enhance connectivity between native riparian habitat patches (e.g., migratory stopover sites) (McNeil et al. 2013). Re-establish SGCN in areas where extirpated and appropriate. Potential collaborators: BLM, BOR, NPS, USACE, USFS, USFWS, NMDOT, NMED, SFD, SLO, SWCDs, universities, non-profit organizations, private landowners, Tribal natural-resource managers, water-management districts.

Natural System Modifications

Determine beneficial fire frequencies and intensities and work with land-management agencies, sovereign Tribal entities, and private landowners to develop fire management plans that thoroughly consider local environmental conditions (e.g., weather, fuel conditions, landscape characteristics, local wildlife) (Russell et al. 2024) and implement prescribed burns or cultural burns (Roos et al. 2021, Parks et al. 2023, Eisenberg et al. 2024) that avoid disturbing SGCN during sensitive periods (e.g., nesting); maintain condition of sensitive habitats (e.g., riparian habitat), ecosystem components (e.g., soil microbiotic community [Dove and Hart 2017, Brady et al. 2022, Nelson et al. 2022], regenerating seedlings [Owen et al. 2020]), and ecosystem function (e.g., soil carbon storage, nutrient cycling) (Brady et al. 2022, Nelson et al. 2022); avoid fire use in unsuitable habitats (e.g., Chihuahuan Desert grasslands) (Bestelmeyer et al. 2021); enhance local diversity (Bowman et al. 2016, Eisenberg et al. 2024) and gene flow (Jones et al. 2023), including of SGCN such as pollinating insects; and protect people and property (Roos et al. 2021, USFS 2022). Potential collaborators: BLM, NPS, USFS, USFWS, SFD, SLO, universities, private landowners, Tribal natural-resource managers.

Pollution

Determine effects of, and implement actions to mitigate negative effects from, agro- (e.g., neonicotinoids, other pesticides) (Sanchez-Bayo 2021, EPA 2023) and petrochemicals, synthetic chemicals (e.g., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS]), microplastics, urban runoff, and other pollutants (e.g., sewage, nutrients, toxic chemicals, sediment) on SGCN, especially fish and pollinating insects, and their habitats. This includes solid waste that may entangle wildlife. Potential collaborators: EPA, NMDA, NMED, universities, local governments, municipalities, private industry.

Climate Change and Severe Weather

Determine how regional and global climate change will affect SGCN, vegetation patterns (e.g., Davis et al. 2019, Coop et al. 2020, Guiterman et al. 2022, Davis et al. 2023), and community (e.g., Rosenblad et al. 2023) and ecosystem processes and dynamics, including disturbance regimes. This includes identifying SGCN (e.g., Glick et al. 2011) and associated habitats that are most likely to be negatively affected by climate change, including impacts on travel corridors, habitat connectivity, and species and habitat ranges. Identification of environmental conditions or thresholds that could limit SGCN is especially important. Potential collaborators: BLM, NPS, USFS, USFWS, USGS, EMNRD, SLO, universities.

Related Resources

Species of Greatest Conservation Need Chapter in SWAP document