While these vast open spaces might seem uniform, they're actually home to diverse plant and animal species, and they provide a whole host of ecosystem services! Migratory birds and grazing animals increase biodiversity and are loved by all. Wildflowers support pollinators that are vital to sustainable agriculture.
What is buffelgrass?
Buffelgrass is a perennial grass from Africa that is invasive to the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest United States, where it threatens desert ecosystems by out-competing native plants and altering fire regimes. It has the potential to transform the Sonoran Desert ecosystem from a diverse assemblage of plants to a grassland monoculture.
Buffelgrass was brought to Arizona in the 1930s for erosion control and began expanding rapidly in the 1980s. Left unchecked, buffelgrass will dominate the desert landscape and could enable regular, fast-moving wildfires.
USGS research shows that early treatment of areas invaded by buffelgrass can dramatically reduce the presence of this species.
Learn more: Invasive Plant Spotlight: Buffelgrass (National Park Service)
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While these vast open spaces might seem uniform, they're actually home to diverse plant and animal species, and they provide a whole host of ecosystem services! Migratory birds and grazing animals increase biodiversity and are loved by all. Wildflowers support pollinators that are vital to sustainable agriculture.
Field of invasive annual grasses. Photo by Janet Prevéy (USGS - Fort Collins Science Center).
Field of invasive annual grasses. Photo by Janet Prevéy (USGS - Fort Collins Science Center).
An unburned low elevation community in the central Mojave where the interspaces between shrubs have been filled in with a continuous layer of Mediterranean split grass Schismus barbatus. If a fire started here it would spread much more rapidly and be far more extensive than in a low elevation community where the interspaces are rocky or bare.
An unburned low elevation community in the central Mojave where the interspaces between shrubs have been filled in with a continuous layer of Mediterranean split grass Schismus barbatus. If a fire started here it would spread much more rapidly and be far more extensive than in a low elevation community where the interspaces are rocky or bare.
Introduced Phragmites australis, also called the common reed, is an invasive grass in the Great Lakes.
Introduced Phragmites australis, also called the common reed, is an invasive grass in the Great Lakes.

New Crossroads in Science, Policy, and Management
by Julio Betancourt, Sr. Scientist and Desert Ecologist
New Crossroads in Science, Policy, and Management
by Julio Betancourt, Sr. Scientist and Desert Ecologist
United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species
Effectiveness of a decade of treatments to reduce invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)
Buffelgrass-Integrated modeling of an invasive plant
Buffelgrass fuel loads in Saguaro National Park, Arizona, increase fire danger and threaten native species
Related
How does climate change affect the challenge of invasive species?
What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?
What is tamarisk?
What is cheatgrass and how is it harmful?
How do Chinese tallow's characteristics make it such an aggressive invader?
While these vast open spaces might seem uniform, they're actually home to diverse plant and animal species, and they provide a whole host of ecosystem services! Migratory birds and grazing animals increase biodiversity and are loved by all. Wildflowers support pollinators that are vital to sustainable agriculture.
While these vast open spaces might seem uniform, they're actually home to diverse plant and animal species, and they provide a whole host of ecosystem services! Migratory birds and grazing animals increase biodiversity and are loved by all. Wildflowers support pollinators that are vital to sustainable agriculture.
Field of invasive annual grasses. Photo by Janet Prevéy (USGS - Fort Collins Science Center).
Field of invasive annual grasses. Photo by Janet Prevéy (USGS - Fort Collins Science Center).
An unburned low elevation community in the central Mojave where the interspaces between shrubs have been filled in with a continuous layer of Mediterranean split grass Schismus barbatus. If a fire started here it would spread much more rapidly and be far more extensive than in a low elevation community where the interspaces are rocky or bare.
An unburned low elevation community in the central Mojave where the interspaces between shrubs have been filled in with a continuous layer of Mediterranean split grass Schismus barbatus. If a fire started here it would spread much more rapidly and be far more extensive than in a low elevation community where the interspaces are rocky or bare.
Introduced Phragmites australis, also called the common reed, is an invasive grass in the Great Lakes.
Introduced Phragmites australis, also called the common reed, is an invasive grass in the Great Lakes.

New Crossroads in Science, Policy, and Management
by Julio Betancourt, Sr. Scientist and Desert Ecologist
New Crossroads in Science, Policy, and Management
by Julio Betancourt, Sr. Scientist and Desert Ecologist