Botanic Briefings

Join us for monthly informative presentations from Garden staff and other local experts. Dorrance Hall April 15: Safeguarding Our Desert Icon: Inside the Saguaro Initiatives at Desert Botanical Garden Speaker: Tania Hernandez, New World Succulents Cactus Scientist The Saguaro Initiatives are a set of research, conservation, and community-science programs led by Desert Botanical Garden to understand, protect and restore saguaros across the Phoenix Valley and our changing desert. This talk will share what we are learning about saguaro genetics, health, survival, and resilience in the face of rising heat and drought, and how these efforts connect science, volunteers, saguaro owners and long-term conservation. Attendees will also learn how the community can participate in helping safeguard this iconic species for future generations. May 5: Citizen Science Monitoring of Urban Saguaro Health: The Saguaro Monitoring Program within the Desert Botanical Garden’s Saguaro Initiatives Speaker: Billie Fraser, ASU Masters of Science Program The Saguaro Census, organized by the Desert Botanical Garden, provides an important snapshot of saguaro distribution across the Phoenix Valley. However, long-term monitoring is essential to strengthen these data and better understand changes in plant health and survival over time. To address this need, the Saguaro Monitoring Program was developed as a student- and volunteer-led initiative in which community members are assigned a plot of approximately 20 saguaros that they visit regularly to document plant health and condition. As the project completes its first year of surveys, results from the initial monitoring effort will be presented, along with a discussion of the benefits and challenges of using citizen science to monitor urban plant populations.