Effects of Fire Seasonality on Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2007-2020)

Desert grassland vegetation is a key resource upon which rangelands in
the southwestern US are built, and managing these ecosystems remains a
critical challenge today. This experimental fire seasonality research
project, in collaboration with the USFWS, USFS Rocky Mountain Research
Station, and the Sevilleta LTER, is intended to provide land
management agencies with information about vegetation recovery
following fire under different seasonal conditions and burning
treatments. This experimental research will enable the FWS to more
effectively set project objectives for prescribed burning on the
Sevilleta NWR to benefit not only wildlife habitat, but to better
align the timing and intensity of fire to benefit the reestablishment
of the dominant native grama grasses Bouteloua eriopoda and B.
gracilis. Since its creation in 1973, management has been devoted to
restoring the Sevilleta NWR to the natural conditions that might have
been seen around the turn of the century. The Sevilleta NWR is an
ideal place for research because climatic conditions, plant species
composition and net primary production following wildfire have been
well documented by the Sevilleta LTER. Additional experimental
research is needed, however, to better inform managers about the
timing and use of fire as an ecosystem restoration and management
tool. This is an on-going, long-term experiment under the auspices of
the Sevilleta LTER program.