Historical and recent fire ecology on national wildlife refuges: a case study on Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

The southeastern United States consists of diverse ecosystems, many of which are fire-dependent. Fires were common during pre-European times, and many were anthropogenic in origin. Understanding how prescribed burning practices in use today compare to historic fire regimes can provide perspective and context on the role of fire in critical ecosystems. On the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), prescribed burning is conducted to prevent live oak (Quercus fusiformis) encroachment and preserve the openness of the herbaceous wetlands and grasslands for endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) and Aplomado falcons (Falco femoralis). This field note builds a digital fire atlas of recent prescribed burning on the refuge and compares it to the historical fire ecology of ANWR. Findings indicate that the refuge is maintaining fire-dependent ecosystems with an extensive burn program that includes a fire return interval between 2 and 10 years on a majority of the refuge, with some locations experiencing much longer intervals. These fire return intervals are much shorter than the historic burn regime according to LANDFIRE. Following the fire return intervals projected by LANDFIRE, which project longer intervals than the prescribed fire program, would likely be detrimental to endangered species management by allowing increased woody plant encroachment and loss of open habitat important to whooping cranes and Aplomado falcons. Since prescribed fire is part of the management objectives on many national wildlife refuges in the United States, quantifying recent and historical fire ecology can provide useful insights into future management efforts, particularly in cases where endangered species are of special concern and management efforts may be counter to historical disturbance regimes.