#buffelgrass

[nateaz]

#Wildfire devastation to the #SuperstitionMountains because of rediculously stupid things like #Buffelgrass and other invasive species taking over the #SonoranDesert. No, the iconic #Saguaros cannot bounce back from this. (at Apache Junction, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWRs-BIPyhq/?utm_medium=tumblr

[rjzimmerman]

Saving the West’s most iconic cactus from climate change

A warming world means the invasive buffelgrass — a danger to the cactus — is thriving.

Excerpt from this story from the Washington Post:

The largest cactus in the United States, the saguaro is distinct, visually and biologically. A mature saguaro can grow to 40 feet and weigh a ton after soaking up rainwater. Supported by its wood skeleton, the saguaro can sprout dozens of arms. Sometimes the arms are curled; if two are growing side by side, they’re often hugging.

The saguaro grows in just one part of the world: in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona; northern Mexico; a smidgen of California; and most prolifically in a mountainous swath that flows west from Tucson to the California border. It’s a landscape of rock, hard sand and open blue sky, and the saguaro has been part of it for 10,000 years.

And now, a changing climate is raising concerns about how the saguaro will survive the 21st century in an environment that’s hot and getting hotter, dry and getting drier. In a climate wake-up call, drought and record-breaking heat in 2020 contributed to wildfires that killed thousands of saguaros.

North America’s only monsoon — and the reason the Sonoran Desert is billed as the world’s “wettest desert”— brings billowing cumulonimbus clouds that drench the land in rain. Nearly half the annual rainfall required to hydrate the Sonoran Desert is delivered by the monsoon.

Last summer, the monsoon never came. A pitiful 1.62 inches of rain fell, compared with the average 6.08 inches — a rare occurrence that in meteorological dark humor is termed a “nonsoon.” As a result, 2020 was Tucson’s driest year on record, according to the National Weather Service. The lack of rain compounded long-term drought conditions.

While heat is not necessarily a threat at this point — heat makes the cactus grow — it has contributed to a devastating new risk: fire kindled by invasive buffelgrass, a South African import. Buffelgrass, which has been thriving in hotter, drier conditions, forms a flammable carpet around the cactus.

Thousands of saguaros died on the buffelgrass-laden lower slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains on the north side of Tucson in June, when a massive lightning-ignited fire erupted and burned for seven weeks.

[thatclevernever]

[djrange]

Crimson fountain #grass #buffelgrass #taipei #taiwan #plants (at Taipei, Taiwan) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzKNhOhsSN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nateaz]

#LANDWANTED & NEEDED: I would work like a slave for a couple of acres of land-in-trade down by #Ajo, #Arizona!! I would need to cover my bills too but I would put in the time!! I need a place where I can conserve a few acres or precious tracts of the Sonoran Desert and create a sanctuary for my 300 plus cactus plants to find a permanent home!! I'm eyeing #AjoArizona as a potential candidate to permanently settle in Arizona... I would declare war on invasive plants like #Buffelgrass! To hell with #Buffelgrass!!! 😤🌵🌌 (at Ajo, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWloWU9vwSU/?utm_medium=tumblr

[leahslens-blog]

#photography #photo #sunset #buffelgrass