When
noon to 1 p.m., Oct. 17, 2024
Repeat Photography and Wildfire Impacts on Arizona's Sonoran Desert
Fire is often deadly for the saguaro and the paloverde, hallmark Sonoran Desert species with a photosynthetic epidermis easily wounded by flames. Jim Malusa documented the mortality of these and other Sonoran Desert species through repeat photography in Arizona locations ranging from Barry M. Goldwater military range at 460 m (1500 ft) in SW Arizona to 1000 m (3280 ft) at Tonto National Monument in central Arizona. As you’ll see from the photos – some of which are 100 years old – the situation is looking grim at higher elevations in central Arizona, SW Arizona is faring better, and the Tucson area lies between the two extremes.