The biological goal of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan is to ensure the long-term survival of the full spectrum of plants and animals that are indigenous to Pima County through maintaining or improving the ecosystem structures and functions necessary for their survival.
Inherent within this broad goal are several objectives:
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Promote recovery of federally listed and candidate species to the point where their continued existence is no longer at risk.
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Where feasible and appropriate, re-introduce and recover species that have been extirpated from this region.
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Maintain or improve the status of unlisted species whose existence in Pima County is vulnerable.
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Identify biological threats to the region’s biodiversity posed by exotic and native species of plants and animals, and develop strategies to reduce these threats and avoid additional invasive exotics in the future.
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Identify compromises to ecosystem functions within target plant communities selected for their biological significance and develop strategies to mitigate them.
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Promote long-term viability for species, environments and biotic communities that have special significance to people in this region because of their aesthetic or cultural values, regional uniqueness, or economic significance.
Riparian Protection and Restoration Element: Adopted Goal Statements
Adopted by the Science Technical Advisory Team, April 24, 2000
The STAT has adopted these specific ecosystem function goals for the riparian element of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan:
1. To the extent possible, maintain or restore the connection between interdependent components of river systems: channel, overbank floodplain, distributary flow zones, riparian vegetation and connected shallow groundwater.
a. Maintain or restore natural flooding and sediment balance;
b. Preserve or re-establish connection between channels and their floodplains, and channels and their distributary flow zones;
c. Maintain or re-establish hydrologic connections between riparian and aquatic ecosystems and shallow groundwater zones
2. Manage uplands as appropriate to protect the functioning of riparian and aquatic ecosystems within the watershed;
3. Manage point-source and non-point source pollution to maintain water quality at a level needed to support SDCP biological goals;
4. Insure sufficient instream flows to achieve and protect natural functions of riparian and aquatic ecosystems.