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Brush management techniques are widely applied on rangelands for multiple objectives; two common objectives are to increase forage production for livestock and to maintain healthy wildlife habitat. Our objectives were to determine the effects of implementing a roller chopper on habitat productivity for native wildlife; and to determine the effects of roller chopping on the native herbaceous vegetation on previously disturbed and undisturbed desert scrubland communities. The study was conducted in the southern end of the Sonoran Desert in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three replications. Treatments evaluated were: roller chopping, roller chopping on previous cleared areas, previous cleared areas, and control. Response variables included canopy cover of woody plants, canopy cover of herbaceous plants and native species richness. There was a multivariate main effect among treatments for the dependent variables total canopy cover of herbaceous plants, litter, and bare ground. Variables that contributed to the significant overall effect included litter and total herbaceous cover. The indicators of roller chopping as a management practice in the desert scrubland are reflected by providing sites of increased herbaceous vegetation for wildlife. This contributes to the continuity of the biological processes in the ecosystem and the specimens that cohabit in it.