Read our latest publications on fire in the Florida Everglades…
Fires enhanced productivity in fire-adapted subtropical pinelands of the Florida Everglades
Some ecosystems require regular disturbances to maintain their biological and structural diversity. However, shifts in climate and changes in land management practices have altered global fire regimes, making it challenging to determine the most effective approach to maintain fire-dependent ecosystems. Measuring how ecosystems respond to disturbances can offer valuable insights into the effects of fire under contemporary conditions. In Everglades pinelands, we used satellite data to develop a machine learning model for the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), an effective proxy for primary productivity.
Contemporary Fire Regimes of the Subtropical Everglades
Fire is a fundamental force that shapes ecosystems by influencing vegetation composition, succession, and structural diversity. Fire regimes, defined by fire frequency, intensity, and seasonality, vary across ecosystems and are critical in fire-dependent landscapes. In the Florida Everglades, fire is a key driver of ecological dynamics, interacting with hydrology and the structure of vegetation. This study defines contemporary fire regimes by describing fire patterns from 1978 to 2023, utilizing fire perimeter data from Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.
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Fire in the Everglades, 1978-2023
In the Florida Everglades, fire is a key driver of ecological dynamics, interacting with hydrology and vegetation structure. Fires have been recorded by Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve (1978-2023) by mapping the outer boundary of fires. Annual fire perimeter data for the two regions were combined to generate a fire history database for the subtropical landscape. This dataset includes fire perimeters, binary burned layers, and years of fire layers that can be used to quantify fire dynamics across subtropical ecosystems.
See the total number of fires from 1978 to 2023 and years since the last fire visualized across different ecosystems in the Florida Everglades in our Shiny App.