Frequent and catastrophic wildfires in Great Basin rangelands: Time for a proactive management approach

View article.

Frequent and catastrophic wildfires are an increasing threat to the ecological and economic stability of Great Basin rangelands, specifically sagebrush rangelands at risk of exotic annual grass invasion (Crist et al. this issue). Historically, fires were a periodic disturbance in these communities that shifted dominance from woody vegetation to herbaceous vegetation (Wright and Bailey 1982; Miller and Rose 1999) and likely promoted diversity (Davies and Bates 2020). Alterations in fuel characteristics with exotic plant invasions and increased anthropogenic ignitions have greatly elevated the likelihood of wildfires in many of these rangelands (Balch et al. 2013;  Fusco et al. 2022). However, other rangelands are experiencing decreased fire frequency, largely caused by reduced fine fuels from anthropogenic-induced alterations to plant community composition or land use. Though  longer fire return intervals can also be problematic because they cause undesirable plant community compositional shifts and decreased heterogeneity in some rangelands, this special issue is focused on the problem of more frequent and catastrophic wildfires as this is a more pressing concern in terms of the rate of undesirable ecosystem change and risk to property and life.