Post-Wildfire Sedimentation in Saguaro in Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District and Effects on Lowland Leopard Frog Habitat
Parker JT and Swann D. 2007. Post-Wildfire Sedimentation in Saguaro in Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District and Effects on Lowland Leopard Frog Habitat
Post-wildfire sedimentation in the Rincon Mountains of Saguaro National Park overwhelms the sediment transport capacity of small desert streams and buries bedrock pools, known as tinajas, that serve as habitat for the lowland leopard frog, a declining species in southeastern Arizona. An increase in the frequency of large, severe, crown fires because of fire-suppression practices in the late 19th and 20th century, as well as fragmentation of leopard frog habitat resulting primarily from human activities, presents leopard frog populations with disturbances of unprecedented frequency and magnitude. Tree-ring studies show that large, severe wildfires were rare, extreme events in the Rincon Mountains before the middle of the 20th century. From 1989 through 2003, however, Saguaro National Park has been the site of five severe wildfires and post-wildfire sedimentation from such events has filled bedrock pools and destroyed leopard frog habitat in most stream channels within the study area.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Parker, John; Swann, Don
- Date of Issue
- 2007
- Units
- SAGU
- Keywords
- leopard frog, Saguaro National Park, wildfire