Saguaro cacti 🌵 are an important part of the biotic community in the Sonoran Desert 🏜️. They are also a vital part of the diet of Indigenous people in the area.
Saguaros require a specific sequence of monsoons and dry spells to blossom and reproduce. Due to climate change-related shifts in weather conditions, the mature individuals are no longer reproducing. They are dying without being replaced.
The IUCN currently lists them as “least concern” but also “declining” with the most recent assessment from 2017. I wonder if this will be changing soon?
See also:
🔗 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10042023/saguaro-restoration-climate-change/
🔗 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/152495/121476885
