Post-fire saguaro community: impacts on associated vegetation still apparent 10 years later

Abstract

Fire impacts on saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) associated vegetation were studied in unburned and burned areas over a 10 year post-fire period after the 1993 Vista View fire, Tonto National Forest, Arizona. Many associated species, crucial for saguaro survival, regenerate by vegetative growth after fire. Bushes were the most common nearest-neighbor, physiognomic, fuel group. Burned area species diversity was maintained by resprouts. Average and total cover m² in burned areas was less for trees, cactus, and yucca; similar for bushes; and greater for shrubs than in unburned areas. The burn site has yet to recover its tree and saguaro components.

Parent Publication

• Connecting mountain islands and desert seas: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago II

Citation

Narog, Marcia; Wilson, Ruth. 2005. Post-fire saguaro community: impacts on associated vegetation still apparent 10 years later. In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Edminster, Carleton B., comps. Connecting mountain islands and desert seas: biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago II. Proc. RMRS-P-36. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 421-425