This year, like many years, the City of Tucson put on a 4th of July fireworks display overtop of A Mountain for all to enjoy. This would not be a problem for a typical Sonoran Desert landscape that has natural open space among its scattered trees, shrubs, and cacti and thus a very low potential to burn. However, this hill that lies nestled in the heart of the city is largely covered with the invasive grass — buffelgrass. Buffelgrass is an excellent fuel, capable of producing hotter fires that move faster and further than our native vegetation could possibly produce.
On this 4th of July, I had just flown in from a family member’s wedding. Driving home from the airport we noticed that the hillside was on fire. One (or more) of the fireworks had set fire to some of the bone-dry grass, and the fire was rapidly spreading across the hill. We could see saguaros engulfed in flames.
As part of my work with the University of Arizona and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, I went out over the subsequent weeks to map the area of the fire and to study the mortality of the saguaros and other perennial plants on the hillside. The following is a photo essay to illustrate the problem of buffelgrass. We will not know the exact number of saguaros lost for some time, but over 200 were burned in the fire.
On this 4th of July, I had just flown in from a family member’s wedding. Driving home from the airport we noticed that the hillside was on fire. One (or more) of the fireworks had set fire to some of the bone-dry grass, and the fire was rapidly spreading across the hill. We could see saguaros engulfed in flames.
As part of my work with the University of Arizona and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, I went out over the subsequent weeks to map the area of the fire and to study the mortality of the saguaros and other perennial plants on the hillside. The following is a photo essay to illustrate the problem of buffelgrass. We will not know the exact number of saguaros lost for some time, but over 200 were burned in the fire.
The pictures above show what the area looked like directly after the fire. Picture 1 shows burnt baren ground immediately after the fire. Picture 2 shows the buffelgrass sprouting days after the fire out of the burnt buffelgrass. Picture 3 shows the buffelgrass sprouting across the hillside.
These pictures are from a few weeks after the fire. Buffelgrass is already up to my thighs in some places. Picture one shows green healthy buffelgrass growing up around a burnt saguaro. Picture 2 shows the hillside covered in lush green buffelgrass. Picture 3 shows another view of a burnt saguaro with fresh buffelgrass.