Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Spatial and temporal variability in fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Durango, Mexico

Author: Drury, S. A.; Veblen, T. T.

Date: 2008

Source: Plant Ecology. 197(2): 299-316.

Description: Patterns of fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Mexico are analyzed in relation to variability in climate, topography, and human land-use. Significantly more fires with shorter fire return intervals occurred from 1900 to 1950 than from 1950 to 2001. However, the frequency of widespread fire years (25% filter) was unchanged over time, as widespread fires were synchronized by climatic extremes. Widespread fire years occurred during dry years that lagged wet years. Widespread fire years lagged the negative El Niño phase (wet winters) of the Southern Oscillation by 1 year, but were not synchronized by the positive, La Niña phase (dry winters) of the Southern Oscillation. The smaller, localized fires that occurred more frequently during the first half of the 20th century were attributed to changes in land tenure with the introduction of the ejido system in the early 1950s. Ejido management strategies lowered fire frequencies by suppressing fires and reducing anthropogenic fires. There were likely more ignitions prior to the arrival of the ejido system as fires were ignited by lightning and indigenous people. As the movement of indigenous peoples across the landscape has been restricted by changes in land tenure, numbers of human-ignited fires subsequently decreased post 1950. After 1950, fires occurred less frequently, were more synchronized, and more restricted to years of extreme climate.

Keywords: Mexico, fire, climate variability, land-use changes, forest ecology, disturbance

View and Print this Publication (520 K)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Drury, S. A.; Veblen, T. T.  2008.  Spatial and temporal variability in fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Durango, Mexico.   Plant Ecology. 197(2): 299-316..