Cheatgrass by GrandCanyonTrust

This photo was taken in an area on the west side of the Kaibab Plateau in Northern Arizona where the Bridger-Knoll Complex fire burned 53,000 acres in 1996. Since then, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), an introduced plant species that is highly invasive across the western U.S., has invaded and expanded across much of the burn area. Cheatgrass is a serious threat to ecosystems because it can outcompete grasses that occur naturally due to it's adaptation to fire. Cheatgrass takes advantage of available resources very quickly after a fire, leaving less available for native plant species. Because it grows earlier than other plants, it also dries up earlier and can create a very fine, very flammable bed of fuel that easily ignites and carries fire. Once this happens, other plant species burn up with it and cheatgrass is ready to reinvade the area again! The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Forest Service are pro-actively trying to fight the invasion of cheatgrass in this area and we are doing everything we can to help them!