Sierra Estrellas and Tamarisks by junge1
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Description
The Sierra Estrellas are just south of the Greater Phoenix area. In the northwest part of the mountains is urban development and that is where we go bike riding.
In the foreground is riparian vegetation in the bottom of the Gila River, mostly Tamarisk a riparian phreatophyte.
Tamarisk (Salt Cedar) is a deciduous shrub or small tree from Eurasia that can grow as high as 25-ft. tall. Tamarisk is a non-native invasive species that was first introduced in the 1880s as ornamental plants and as wind breaks.
The Tamarisk invasion has gone out of control, especially in the American Southwest. Tamarisk invade riverbeds and choke the river by narrowing its channel. It is displacing native vegetation such as Cottonwoods and Willows. It provides a poor habitat for livestock, wild animals, and birds. It can also be a wildfire hazard. The Gila River is lined with these trees which can uptake as much as 200 gallons per tree per day.
It is estimated that the American West is probably loosing from 2-4.5 million acre-feet (1 acre-foot = 325,851 gallons) of water per year because of Tamarisk. This is enough water to supply more than 20 million people with water for one year or to irrigate over 1,000,000 acres (2.471 acres = 1 hectare) of land (Source: www.discovermoab.com/tamarisk.htm).
Here in the Greater Phoenix area it is not unusual that a wildfire burns in the stream bed of the Gila River, which is choked with Tamarisk. The fire may be human caused, or set off by a lightning strike and it my burn for days and pollute the air over the city.
This picture was taken on 2 November 2013,
Sig....
Comments (25)
Sem duvidas um bom lugar para andar de bicicleta. Bela narrativa e imagem, excelente trabalho meu amigo, aplausos (5)
Marvelous landscape and fantastic image !
Nice shot!
Nice shot indeed!!
Wow, great capture my friend and info!!!
As much of a bane as they are, the trees in the foreground set off the receding mountains beautifully. They provide an anchor for the back, back, back, back composition. I love the haze, the subtle colors and the repetitive shapes. Gorgeous! (I'm appalled by the water usage, however. Pretty is as pretty does.)
Cool photo and interesting but disturbing information
fantastic panorama
Sounds like tamarisk are a real problem! Great shot of them.
Nice shot and interesting information!
like the atmospheric depth interesting info
A super 'hazy' view Sig.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the area. You have taken a gorgeous photo with amazing atmospheric prospective. As a child I lived in that area, but never realized the trees I loved (did not know the name of them at the time) were such a menace to the environment.
A very striking image here.
Invading plants and animals are a problem everywhere. Nice shot. Like the depth
Gorgeous shot!!!!!!!
I love the depth and the atmospeher in this shot
Shining shot.
Thanks for the information and picture!
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
I like how the fog describes the varoius 'layers'
The air is bone dry. This is pollution not fog!
beautiful landscape and atmo.
I would think that the state would be ripping the Tamarisk trees along the Gila just to prevent the loss of water
Dana, that is easier said than done. Also, there are a lot of legal issues and costs involved, and you know what that means!