Environmental Health of the 

Albuquerque Bosque 
Ecosystem 
Human Impacts, Restoration Efforts, and Future Outlook 

Diego Salazar 
09.04.2020 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Table of Contents 
 
 
Introduction 2 
Methodology 2 
Results 3 
Discussion 6 
Conclusion 7 
Works Cited 8 
 

1   
Introduction 
The Bosque ecosystem in Albuquerque has been, and continues to be impacted by several human 
factors. This includes impacts on the Rio Grande, such as dams, levees, and irrigation. As well as 
impacts on the vegetation and wildlife due to urban expansion. This report will analyze how the 
Bosque ecosystem has changed over the years, if and how human activities have caused these 
changes, and how present management of the water and land will determine the future of the 
Bosque. The portion of the Rio Grande which inhabits the bosque is currently declining when it 
comes to biodiversity and overall health of plant and animal life in the ecosystem. Humans have 
made necessary changes to the river and surrounding land in order to coexist with the ecosystem. 
However, these actions have adverse effects on the ecosystem that will need to be combated if 
New Mexico’s citizens want to continue to use the bosque’s resources and have a natural 
recreation area with native wildlife. If current trends continue, there will be severe degradation, 
or possibly extinction (in the area) of plant and animal life in the area. The Rio Grande has been 
heavily irrigated for a few hundred years now, and water management has increased since the 
early 1900’s (Stuever et al.). In this analysis, I will research human activity and health of the 
bosque, determine the problem from my findings, and provide a future outlook as to what will 
happen to the bosque in the future. 
 

The Bosque is a “rich and diverse ecosystem”, but “time is running short for its preservation” 
(Stuever et al.) 
 

Methodology 
In order to understand how humans and the bosque ecosystem can coexist healthily, two things 
must be researched, the health of the bosque over the years, and human impacts on the bosque 
ecosystem. First, I will research the health of the bosque to determine what allows the ecosystem 
to thrive, what degrades it, and its status from the past to the present. Next, I will research human 
activities in and around the bosque to determine what has been done and why. Finally, I will 
research what is projected to happen to the bosque, and what is being (or needs to be) done to 
create a balance between bosque health and human activity. As my sources, I read the Bosque 
Biological Management Plan, which is much like this report, but lengthier and from 1993, I read a 
report that reported the effectiveness of some environmental restoration projects on the bosque, I 
read chapter 2 of the bosque education guide, and I interviewed the director of nonprofit for the 
Rio Grande Restoration Project. I also used a few different sources for the maps I used. 

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 1. Health of the Bosque over Time 

The information on the past health of the bosque mainly came from the Bosque Biological 
Management Plan, and the bosque education guide, while my interviewee had some information 
to share as well. The Bosque Biological Management Plan and the Bosque Education Guide both 
provided detailed descriptions of how the Rio Grande used to flow, and how the ecosystem 
depended on the water levels, before any human intervention. They also had information on how 
the river flow and ecosystem progressively changed as more and more humans occupied the area. 
My interviewee provided more details about how these changes affect several different aspects of 
the ecosystem (plants, trees, fish, birds, etc.). 

2. Human Impacts on the Bosque system  

All of my sources provided information on human activity in the bosque and how it has impacted 
the ecosystem. They all discuss how the Rio Grande is being managed, and how urbanization has 
affected the area. All of them except the Bosque Biological Management Plan mentioned 
restoration efforts. The restoration evaluation and the bosque education guide discuss how the 
introduction of non- native species has impacted the bosque. My interviewee was the only source 
who emphasized some more large scale impacts such as global warming and large scale pollution. 

3. Future outlook 

All of the sources indicate that organizations and government should work together to restore the 
bosque to a more natural state. All of the sources indicate that it is possible to alter the bosque to 
provide a healthy habitat for native plants and animals. They all agree that this should be done by 
altering the management of the river and the surrounding bosque. They also all agree that by 
continuing current actions, we would not be able to sustain a healthy habitat for the bosque 
environment. However, my interviewee is the only source that brought up the idea that the 
current land and water management will not be sustainable to support the people of New Mexico. 

Results 
1. Health of the Bosque Over Time  

In order to understand the health of the bosque today, and how it has changed over time, a few 
concepts must be clarified: 1. I will be defining the ‘health’ of the ecosystem as a system that 
provides a sustainable habitat for a diverse group of native animals and vegetation. 2. This means 
the state of the Rio Grande is a determining factor in whether or not the bosque ecosystem will 
thrive because it provides the water for life in the area. Other factors include habitat area, 
habitats ability to sustain life, and air quality (when it comes to the bosque) are all affected by 
similar causes. Now that these three things are known, we can evaluate the bosque’s health based 
on them.  

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Before any human intervention, about 15,000 years ago, the Rio Grande was “sinuous and 
braided” and “migrated freely across its floodplain” (Stuever et al.). The river would periodically 
have large floods which, “knocked down [older] trees (cottonwoods specifically), [creating] 
sandbars, little lakes, wetlands, and [habitat area for new vegetation] ”, resulting in a diverse 
environment (Harris). These characteristics of the bosque will be used to define a ‘healthy bosque 
ecosystem’. The first major changes to the ecosystem occurred in the 1800’s, when the size of the 
habitable area decreased, the amount of water in the river decreased, and a rising and 
broadening riverbed caused more flooding than usual and high salinity in groundwater 
(Crawford et al.). The next major change is the “narrow[ing] and straighte[ning]” of the Rio 
Grande, which has continued to happen from the early 1900’s to the present, which has decreased 
habitat area and volume of water (Harris). 

 
This map created by Milford depicts the vast changes regarding stream width and 
vegetation variability from 1935-2002. 

This change, as well as continued habitat destruction, has caused most of the other changes we 
see in the bosque today. These changes include: there are no longer floods that create an area for 
new riparian1 vegetation to grow (leaving only old cottonwoods), take over of non-native trees 
that do not rely on flooding for new growth, such as salt cedar, Russian olive, Siberian elms, and 
others (which provide a habitat for non-native bird species) (Stuever et al.), increased “fire danger 
due to lack of ‘flushing’ flows and populations of non- native vegetation” (Hummel and Caplan), 
decreasing native fish populations (in some cases extinction) (Harris), and decrease in population 
and habitat for native mammals, birds, and amphibians (Stuever et al.).  

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Riparian vegetation is vegetation that grows near a riverbank. 

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 2. Human Impacts on the Bosque System   

There are 2 human activities that impact 

the bosque the most; water management 
and land management. These impact the 
bosque the most because they have been 
controlling the Rio Grande and the land 
around it for a few centuries, and because 
of the large scale they are done in. Water 
management includes irrigation, dams, 
jetty jacks2, and levees. Irrigation in the 
Rio Grande accounts for 80% of the water 
taken from the river (Stueven et al.). 
Irrigation is also the main reason dams, 
jetty jacks, and levees were created. They 
were created to more efficiently and 
sustainably utilize irrigation and 
agriculture. Dams in the Rio Grande are 
used for “​flood control, sediment 
retention, wildlife enhancement and 
recreation​” (Stuever et al.). Levees and 
jetty jacks are used to stabilize the flow of 
the river. Land Management  

This map created by Coonrod and McDonnell depicts the urbanization of land within the bosque. 

includes urban/human expansion and agriculture. Urban/human expansion causes habitat loss 
because vegetation of the bosque is cut down to make room for houses, farmland, and city 
buildings. An additional consequence is the introduction of several non-native plant and animal 
species. Agriculture decreases the amount of water in the river and creates runoff into the river 
and soil. A much smaller impact humans have on the bosque ecosystem is restoration efforts. 
Several groups and organizations are working to preserve and restore the bosque, such as The 
Bosque Biological Management Plan, the Rio Grande Restoration, and the Albuquerque Overbank 
Project (Stueven et al.). These efforts mostly focus on restoring native plant and animal species 
and removing non-native plant and animal species. Other human impacts are global warming 
and pollution, however, these impacts occur on a global scale. 

3. Future Outlook 

As the human population in New Mexico increases, more resources will be needed to support it. 

2
​Jetty Jacks are steel beams laced with wire, that are placed on riverbanks to catch sediment, to prevent flooding. 

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These resources, such as land and water, come from the bosque. All of my sources argue that, 
without intervention, current trends suggest that native plant and animal species populations will 
decrease while nonnative species populations will increase, as well as the Rio Grande will 
continue to lose water and its stream will 
continue to narrow. To understand 
future outlook it must be understood 
what the goal is when it comes to 
managing the bosque. Stuever et al., 
Hummel and Caplan, and Crawford et al. 
argue that the goal should be to restore 
the bosque ecosystem as closely to its 
original form by altering water, land, 
and wildlife management. Harris agrees, 
however he also mentions that if current 
trends continue, there will not be enough 
water to support our growing  

This map from (Glick et al.) shows future projections of moisture deficit compared to 
1970-2006. (Red = large deficit, blue = small/no deficit)  

society. To preserve the bosque more efficient irrigation methods must be used and 
restoration/water management needs to be taken seriously by large scale organizations and the 
government (Harris), (Crawford et al.), (Stuever et al.), (Hummel and Caplan). This projection 
stresses the importance of improving the health of the bosque, because the health of the bosque 
and the water in the Rio Grande go hand in hand. Stuever et al. and Harris also argue that 
scientific research will provide important information about how to manage the bosque more 
efficiently. 

Discussion 
There are a few things that can be inferred from this research:  

● Because of the difference between today’s bosque and the original/ healthy bosque, it can 
be inferred that the bosque’s health has been decreasing. 
● From land and water management, humans have directly caused the narrowing and 
straightening of the Rio Grande, decreasing water volume in the Rio Grande, habitat loss 
in the bosque, and water and soil contamination. From this, we can infer that humans 
have indirectly caused native wildlife species in the bosque to decrease in population and 
formed an ecosystem which does not support the growth of native vegetation.  
● Since all of the reasons the bosque’s health is decreasing are directly or indirectly 
correlated to human activities within the bosque ecosystem, it can be inferred that 

6   
 humans have caused the degradation of the bosque’s ecosystem. 
● The future health of the bosque will be determined by the management of the Rio Grande 
and bosque vegetation.  

Conclusion 
To summarize, the bosque is an intricate ecosystem that requires specific conditions to thrive. 
Human activity has altered these conditions in a way to cause the health of the bosque to decline. 
These activities are necessary to support a growing population in New Mexico. Failure to change 
the way we manage the bosque will continue to degrade its health, and possibly a water shortage 
(which would mean lack of drinking water, crop failure, poor sanitation, and an economic crisis). 
However, if restoration efforts increase, more efficient irrigation methods are implemented, the 
government and other large entities implement more eco friendly water and land management 
regulations, and overall efforts to restore the bosque and Rio Grande increase, a crisis can be 
averted, and we can have a beautiful riverside ecosystem to enjoy. 

7   
 Works Cited 

1. Coonrod, Julie, and Dianne McDonnell. ​Using Remote Sensing and GIS to Compute 
Evapotranspiration in the Rio Grande Bosque​.  
2. Crawford , Clifford S., et al. ​MIDDLE RIO GRANDE ECOSYSTEM: BOSQUE 
BIOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT PLAN,​ 1993. 
3. Glick, Patricia, et al. ​Scanning the Conservation Horizon: a Guide to Climate Change 
Vulnerability Assessment​. National Wildlife Federation, 2011.  
4. Harris, Steve. “Health of the Bosque Ecosystem.” 10 Oct. 2020.  
5. Hummel, Ondrea, and Todd Caplan. “Evaluating Restoration Success and Applying 
Adapative Management in the Middle Rio Grande Bosque.” ​Nature Precedings,​  
2009, doi:10.1038/npre.2009.3649.1.   
6. Milford, Elizabeth R. 2004, ​The Vegetation History of Middle Rio Grande River Bars​.  
7. Stuever, Mary, et al. “Chapter 2: Bosque Background: New Mexico Museum of 
Natural History & Science.” ​Chapter 2: Bosque Background | New Mexico Museum 
of Natural History & Science,​  
www.nmnaturalhistory.org/bosque-education-guide/chapter-2-bosque-backgroun
d.  

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