In the early 1990s, a study of the Tanque Verde Creek by Dr. Julie Stromberg and others described the relationship between the depth to groundwater and the health of the mesquite woodland habitat in the area. This report revisits the Stromberg study to describe variations in groundwater levels since the report was completed early last decade. They identified around 3,000 acres of riparian vegetation in the Tanque Verde-Agua Caliente shallow groundwater zone.

The southwestern United States and Sonora, Mexico are the extreme northern limits of the jaguar’s (Panthera onca) range, which primarily extends from central Mexico south through Central and South America to northern Argentina. Recently, the jaguar ranged as far north as Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Over the last century, the jaguar’s range has been reduced to approximately 46% of its historic range due to hunting pressure and habitat loss. The greatest loss of occupied range has occurred in the southern United States, northern Mexico, northern Brazil, and southern Argentina. Since 1900, jaguars have been documented occasionally in the southwestern United States, but the number of sightings per decade has declined over the last 100 years with only 4 verified sightings between 1970 and 2000. The objectives of our analysis were twofold: (1) characterize potential jaguar habitat in Arizona from historic sighting records, and (2) create a statewide habitat suitability map.