Learn about the potential uses of biological soil crust sods (biocrust sods) for degraded soils restoration and as fire and fuel breaks in desert environments. Recorded on: Wednesday, August 27, 2025 Description: Biocrust sods (portable islands of lichens, mosses, cyanobacteria, and other organisms that form the cohesive soil communities known as biological soil crusts) are …
Scientists, land managers, and students gathered at the 4th Southwest Fire Ecology Conference to discuss the challenges posed by the alterations to the historic fire regime in the Sonoran Desert. This fact sheet summarizes the key insights and proposed solutions that emerged from these discussions, highlighting the urgent need for informed and adaptive fire management …
Read more “Community discussion: Changing fire regimes in the Sonoran Desert”
The Southwest Fire Science Consortium has recognized the growing need for science on how to protect the sensitive ecology of the Sonoran Desert from the dual, and related, threats of invasive grass spread and wildfire. We have worked diligently on collaborative efforts aimed at meeting the need of land managers in the Desert. Read the …
The expansion of the grass-fire cycle in the deserts of North America is driving ecosystem level transformation from patchy desert scrub to invasive grassland. A novel fire regime in the Sonoran Desert is forcing a new approach to land management. Unprecedented large-scale fires in recent years, especially in 2005 and 2020, have been driven by …
We are happy to announce the premiere of a new educational video, “Preventing accidental ignitions: A case study of developed shooting ranges” for #NationalPublicLandsDay on September 28, 2024. Wildfires are accidentally ignited by target shooting each year. While there is no good data on the number of fires started by firearms, land managers recognize the …
Read more “Preventing Accidental Ignitions: A Case Study of Developed Shooting Ranges”
In February 2024, the Southwest Fire Science Consortium led a field trip in central Arizona to learn more about the dynamics between wildfire and invasive species in the Sonoran Desert. The field trip was focused on improving our collective understanding of how invasive grasses and forbs have altered the fire conditions in the Sonoran Desert …
EPISODE SUMMARY What is it like to watch vegetation type-conversion in real time? How are invasive grasses changing the ecology of the desert and broader Southwest? What’s being done to protect and restore Southwest ponderosa pine forests? This episode with Tonto National Forest fire ecologist Mary Lata dives into the fire regimes of the Southwest, …
An overview of a changing landscape. The expansion of the grass-fire cycle in the deserts of North America is driving ecosystem level transformation from patchy desertscrub to invasive grassland. A novel fire regime in the Sonoran Desert is forcing a new approach to land management, where there are currently more questions than answers. What is …
Part of the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and AZ Wildfire Initiative‘s SW Fire Stories wildfire documentary video series, this video raises awareness about wildfire on the Lower Gila River and surrounding communities and the work being done by the Lower Gila River Collaborative to reduce wildfire risk and to inform people about the habitat and importance of restoration on the Lower …