Long Term Vegetation Monitoring At Saguaro National Park

The southwestern deserts stretch from southeastern California to west Texas and then south to central Mexico. The landscape of this region is known as basin and range topography featuring to “sky islands” of forest rising from the desert lowlands which creates a uniquely diverse ecology. The region is further complicated by an international border, where governments have caused difficulties for many animal populations. This book puts a spotlight on individual research projects which are specific examples of work being done in the area and when they are all brought together, to shed a general light of understanding the biological and cultural resources of this vast region so that those same resources can be managed as effectively and efficiently as possible. The intent is to show that collaborative efforts among federal, state agency, university, and private sector researchers working with land managers, provides better science and better management than when scientists and land managers work independently.

This report summarizes data collected during the Sonoran Desert Network's first two seasons of terrestrial vegetation and soils monitoring in upland areas of the Tucson Mountain District, Saguaro National Park, in southern Arizona. Eleven permanent monitoring sites were sampled. This report summarizes effort to date, evaluates the sampling design within the context of monitoring objectives, and suggests modifications to the design.