Summary

Invasive Weeds of the Sonoran Desert will include species that spread rapidly in the desert environment and supply fine fuel that exacerbates wildfire risks. Species profiles in the book will cover identification, ecology, and species-appropriate weed control methods. Aimed at fire ecologists and managers, this guide will supply knowledge useful for combating invasive weeds and fire in the Sonoran Desert.

Stink Net is a member of the Sunflower family. It’s small round yellow flower heads are composed of 100 to 250 flowers packed into a ball no more than 1cm (1/2in) in diameter.

Introduction

Invasive weeds have spread across the Sonoran Desert. They provide fine fuel that increases ignition and spread of wildfires. As fire return intervals decrease, the threat of local extinction of soil microorganisms and many desert plants and animals increases.

Once a potentially invasive weed species reaches a new continent or ecosystem, it often remains quiescent for a few years until it’s seed reservoir and weather conditions are favorable and then it spreads. Once it starts, animals, water, wind, and people will carry it across the land. It may spread so quickly, control becomes prohibitively expensive. Familiar examples are Buffelgrass and Stinknet.

Book Description

“Weeds of Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona” (Rogers 2023) and “Desert Weeds” (Rogers 2020) included many noninvasive species with life-history traits common to all weeds (Grime 1979), but without the aggressive behavior of invasive species. Weeds introduced to the Sonoran Desert from other parts of the world, especially Asia and Africa, can spread rapidly uninhibited by their homeland diseases and consumers. Of the 150 species in “Desert Weeds”, only about 50 are invasive. This book will include most of those species and others found in the Sonoran Desert for a final number of 60 to 70 species. With a two-page layout for each species and extra introduction pages devoted to weed control, the book length will be 160-180 pages.