Wildfire Risk and Hazardous Fuel Reduction Treatments Along the US-Mexico Border: A Review of the Science (1986-2019)

Abstract

The ecosystems along the border between the United States and Mexico are at increasing risk to wildfire due to interactions among climate, land-use, and fuel loads. A wide range of fuel treatments have been implemented to mitigate wildfire and its threats to valued resources, yet we have little information about treatment effectiveness. To fill critical knowledge gaps, we reviewed wildfire risk and fuel treatment studies that were conducted near the US-Mexico border and published in the peer-reviewed literature between 1986 and 2019. The number of studies has grown during this time in warm desert to forest ecosystems on primarily federal lands. The most common study topics included fire effects on native species, the role of invasive species and woody encroachment on wildfire risk, historical fire regimes, and remote sensing and modeling to study wildfire risk across the landscape. A majority of fuel treatment studies focused on prescribed burns, and fuel treatments collectively had mixed effects on mitigating future wildfire risk and threats to ecosystems depending on vegetation and fire characteristics. The diversity of ecosystems and land ownership along the US-Mexico border present unique challenges for understanding and managing wildfire risk, and also create opportunities for collaboration and cross-site studies to promote knowledge across broad environmental gradients.

Wildfire and topography drive woody plant diversity in a Sky Island mountain range in the Southwest USA

“…Alternatively, efforts could be made to influence biotic change with the goal of conserving important elements of current ecosystems that engender species and functional diversity across all taxa. Interventions such as strategic forest thinning, prescribed fire, protection of refugia for sensitive species, and restoration planting have shown promise in achieving these goals (Laushman et al., 2020; Strom & Fulé, 2007; Villarreal et al., 2020), but could be enhanced by more comprehensive scientific and social–ecological underpinnings (Coop et al., 2020; Falk et al., 2019; Gregg & Marshall, 2020; McWethy et al., 2019).…”

Contemporary Fire Regimes Provide a Critical Perspective on Restoration Needs in the Mexico-United States Borderlands

“…Various local-scale fuels reduction treatments have been applied in parts of the borderlands region over the past 3 decades, but have shown mixed success in mitigating future wildfire risk and improving ecosystem resilience. 15 Lack of funding for large-scale fuels management and regulatory issues complicate implementation of landscape-scale, multijurisdictional fuels treatments in both Mexico and the United States. 16,17 The region has complex land ownership and land tenure patterns with varying land uses, management objectives, and human population densities.…”

Wildfire and topography drive woody plant diversity in a Sky Island mountain range in the Southwest USA

“…Alternatively, efforts could be made to direct future biotic change with the goal of conserving important elements of current ecosystems that engender species and functional diversity across all taxa. Interventions such as strategic forest thinning, prescribed fire, protection of refugia for sensitive species, and restoration planting have shown promise in achieving these goals (Strom & Fulé, 2007;Laushman et al, 2020;Villareal et al, 2020), but could be greatly enhanced by more comprehensive scientific and social-ecological underpinnings (Falk et al, 2019;McWethy et al, 2019;Coop et al, 2020). TABLE 1.…”