Monsoon Magic

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L: Sonoita Creek flowing through Patagonia; R: Sacred datura flower covered in morning monsoon dew

The highly anticipated, only-talked-about-in-dark-corners-in-hushed-tones, mega monsoon season everyone has been wagering on, is finally here - and so are the toads! Monsoon season is driven by many regional and global factors that make the Southwest so unique: intense daytime temperatures, our Sky Island topography, southern tropical influences, and the phases of the climate cycle El Nino Southern Oscillation (ESNO) that occurs over the Pacific Ocean.

This year, the ESNO is entering the El Nino phase: a natural phenomenon that pushes warm air west over the Pacific Ocean instead of east, which pushes warm water towards the Americas, shifting global weather patterns. It’s wonderful to think about how the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and its complicated forces affects the smallest of the spadefoot toads. 

Couch’s spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus couchi)

My favorite parts of the desert are often associated with the monsoon season. The petrichor that follows the rain is one of the best smells in the world - earthy creosote drifting on the suddenly chilled and humid air. Flowers everywhere are blooming, almost like a second spring. Bird diversity peaks as species travel north from Mexico, and early fall migrants travel south, making the desert feel and sound more alive than ever - late July brings us the most diverse and abundant hummingbird sightings out of the whole year! 

And all of a sudden, animals that have been waiting underground since last summer are rejoicing in the rainy nights. Spadefoot toads, red velvet mites, desert tortoises, tarantulas, and all kinds of snakes and lizards are being coaxed out of the soil or flooded out of their burrows.

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 Left to right: Red velvet mite (Trombium sp.), Giant mesquite bug (Thasus neocalifornicus), Rainbow grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor)

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Arizona blonde tarantulas (Aphonopelma chalcodes)

So many desert species time their life cycles around the impending monsoon seasons. The influx of water triggers an explosion of plant growth and many species begin to flower. Many animals time their brood to hatch when rains arrive. 

Unknown bird nest - do you know whose nest it could be? 

Mushrooms begin to pop up out of the soil or out of a rotting tree as their mycelium networks push their fruiting bodies into the open air. Water-saving plants like Saguaro cactus and succulents grow visibly plumper as they take in available water that will last the rest of the dry season. Many spring species develop their seeds, and cacti begin to develop their fruit (and my watermelon plants are growing larger every day)! 

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L: Unknown fungi; R: Domesticated watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Monsoons can lead to flash floods, especially in disturbed and destabilized areas that lack vegetation. The erosion control structures that BRN’s Watershed Restoration Program build act as speed bumps to reduce the flow velocity in ephemeral streams that only receive water during monsoon season.

By slowing the flow, water has more time to soak into the ground and enhance vegetation establishment, and provide water sources for wildlife by allowing pools to form behind each structure. They also help reduce erosion, stabilize banks, and can help reduce flooding by slowing the flow in the uplands of our watersheds. 

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Water pooling around erosion control structures installed in the Huachuca Mountains

Water is precious here in the desert, and it’s becoming more so day by day. That’s why it is so important to conserve it, and why BRN is dedicated to restoring our unique and beautiful desert landscape.