Wildfire in Sonoran Desert
Unlike fire-adapted habitats, most of the plant and animal life in the Sonoran Desert is not adapted to fire, which has serious and lasting impacts.
It takes an estimated 65+ years for the Sonoran Desert to recover after fire and iconic species like the saguaro may not ever return. Desert areas highly impacted by fire can potentially transform into a very different landscape than the one we know.
Contributing factors like invasive plant species, heavily impact the land before and after fires. Learn more about desert ecology and its relationship to fire.