Don Swann on saguaro flowering phenology

Saguaro flowering phenology and other long-term studies at Saguaro National Park

Don Swann recently retired after more than 30 years as a biologist at Saguaro National Park. He will present some of the results from long-term studies of the park’s signature plant, including saguaro reproductive phenology, flowers that appear out of season and down the sides of saguaros, and the physical distribution of saguaro arms. He’ll also describe a single summer storm in the Tucson Mountains in 2023 that killed nearly 1,800  saguaros and many other desert plants.