The Buffel Low Down
I didn’t know buffaloes had down. But then, I didn’t know they had wings, either.
This page will consist of links, posts, and maybe even other pages, all concerning Buffel Grass, its effects on us and our environment, and how to recognize it and remove it. This is a work in progress, though. Please keep coming back to see our changes as we grow this page.
NEW: The Pima County Buffel Grass Ordinance. This gives some legal backing to taking care of Buffel Grass.
The document below gives a good description of Buffel Grass, why it is a problem, and what to do about it. This document is provided courtesy of the Saguaro National Park site at https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/buffelgrass.htm
Here’s what we know: Buffel grass was imported to the Sonoran Desert from Africa and the Middle East as cattle feed and for erosion control. Like kudzu, salt cedar, and many other imports, it has thrived in the new environment. It grows taller and burns hotter and recovers faster than native plants around it. It deprives others of the water it gobbles up in propagating so well. By being spread more thickly and taller and burning hotter, it increases wild fire damage potentials. Mowing can actually spread seeds. So chemicals and pulling are the solutions. But the chemicals, like glycophosphate, damage bees and other pollinators. So we pull it and put it in trash bags to minimize re-seeding.
One common mistake: Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L., synonym: Pennisetum ciliare L.) is NOT the same as Buffalo grass (Bouteloua dactyloides). Buffalo grass is a North American prairie grass, native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a short grass found mainly on the High Plains and is co-dominant with blue grama over most of the short grass prairie. It is not common in the Sonoran Desert.
NEW: More Buffel Grass Links:
From the Arizona Sonoran Desert Musuem: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8ecc9066a4234add8372664236cd6008
And here’s a scroll-thru story page, also from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, which takes you step by step through identifying not only Buffel grass, but several native and invasive grasses: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8ecc9066a4234add8372664236cd6008