Buffelgrass is a perennial grass from Africa that is invasive to the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest United States, where it threatens desert ecosystems by out-competing native plants and altering fire regimes. It has the potential to transform the Sonoran Desert ecosystem from a diverse assemblage of plants to a grassland monoculture.
Buffelgrass was brought to Arizona in the 1930s for erosion control and began expanding rapidly in the 1980s. Left unchecked, buffelgrass will dominate the desert landscape and could enable regular, fast-moving wildfires.
USGS research shows that early treatment of areas invaded by buffelgrass can dramatically reduce the presence of this species.
Learn more: Buffelgrass Fact Sheet (National Park Service)
Related Content
Buffelgrass-Integrated modeling of an invasive plant
Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) poses a problem in the deserts of the United States, growing in dense stands and introducing a wildfire risk in an ecosystem not adapted to fire. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center has worked with many partners to develop a decision support model and a data management system to address the problem. The decision support model eval
Authors
Tracy R. Holcombe
Buffelgrass fuel loads in Saguaro National Park, Arizona, increase fire danger and threaten native species
Scientists examine this exotic grass invasion that threatens to alter the fire regime in the Sonoran Desert and the composition, structure, and function of protected ecosystems.
Authors
T. C. Esque, C. R. Schwalbe, J.A. Lissow, D.F. Haines, D. Foster, M.C. Garnet
Related Content
- Multimedia
- Publications
Buffelgrass-Integrated modeling of an invasive plant
Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) poses a problem in the deserts of the United States, growing in dense stands and introducing a wildfire risk in an ecosystem not adapted to fire. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center has worked with many partners to develop a decision support model and a data management system to address the problem. The decision support model evalAuthorsTracy R. HolcombeBuffelgrass fuel loads in Saguaro National Park, Arizona, increase fire danger and threaten native species
Scientists examine this exotic grass invasion that threatens to alter the fire regime in the Sonoran Desert and the composition, structure, and function of protected ecosystems.AuthorsT. C. Esque, C. R. Schwalbe, J.A. Lissow, D.F. Haines, D. Foster, M.C. Garnet - News