Short-Term Vegetation Responses to Fire in the Upper Sonoran Desert
Issue Date
1984-11-01Keywords
Upper Sonoran DesertControlled Burn
Shoot Surviviers
Sprouters
seeders
Brittle Brush
Encelia farinosa
Invader Species
Stickweed
Stephanomeria exigua
Four O'Clock
Mirabilis bigelovii
Bulldog Canyon
herbaceous plants
Woody Perennials
vegetation responses
Cacti
Short Term
annuals
plant composition
wildfire
fire
perennials
vegetation
Arizona
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Cave, G. H., & Patten, D. T. (1984). Short-term vegetation responses to fire in the upper Sonoran Desert. Journal of Range Management, 37(6), 491-496.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/3898842Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Annual and perennial plant vegetation was sampled following a controlled burn (1981) and a wildfire (1980) in the Upper Sonoran Desert near Phoenix, Ariz. Perennial plant composition 1 year after controlled burning included 32% shoot survivors, 30% sprouters, and 38% seeders, mostly brittle bush (Encelia farinosa1). Several invader species, stickweed (Stephanomeria exigua) and four o'clock (Mirabilis bigelovii) were important seeders, indicating that there may be postfire successional communities in the Upper Sonoran Desert. Most cacti were fire killed or died eventually from fire damage. Total annual plant density decreased (69%) while biomass increased significantly (131%) on burned areas. Red brome (Bromus rubens) was essentially eliminated 1 year after fire while schismus (Schismus arabicus) and Indian wheat (Plantago spp.) increased in both density and biomass. Fire appears to enhance rangeland productivity in the Upper Sonoran Desert.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/3898842