Miguel Villarreal, PhD
Dr. Miguel Villarreal is a Research Geographer with the Western Geographic Science Center at Moffett Field, CA.
Wildfire at the Crossroads
Fire is an essential ecological process and management tool but can also be detrimental to life and property. Our findings provide a new depiction of fire regimes in the Sky Islands that can help inform fire management, restoration and regional conservation planning, fostered by local and traditional knowledge and collaboration among landowners and managers.
Remote Sensing of Biological Soil Crusts
Determining the spatial extent and condition of biocrusts across landscapes continues to present considerable challenges to scientists. Remote sensing offers promising opportunities to detect and characterize biocrust communities, differentiate among biocrust community types, and monitor changes in biocrust distribution across dryland landscapes globally.
Miguel’s research involves using earth observation systems and spatial analyses to better understand how disturbances such as wildfire, invasive species, and energy development affect ecosystems, ecosystem services, and human communities, and to provide land managers information to help reduce risk and facilitate recovery after a disturbance. His geographic focus is on water-limited (dryland) regions of the west, which are particularly sensitive to complex interactions between human land use, natural disturbances, and climate change.
Miguel’s current research projects include studies of wildfire and wildlife in the Sky Island region of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, monitoring the impacts and recovery of oil and gas and solar energy developments on the Colorado Plateau and Mojave Deserts, and mapping and monitoring biological soil crusts and invasive grasses across the western US. He works closely with federal agency partners (NPS, USFWS, BLM, USFS, DOD) to develop and implement research projects.
Current and recent research projects
- Remote Sensing for Resource Management, Project Chief (2015-Present)
- Southwest Energy Development and Reclamation (SWEDR), Co-Project Chief (2015-Present)
- Biological soil crust ecology and function from space, Co-Project Chief (2020-Present)
- Southern Border Fuels Management Initiative: Strategies to reduce fire risk and improve viewsheds along the U.S. southern border, Co-Investigator (2019-Present)
- Remote Sensing for Monitoring Riverside East Solar Development Focus Area (DFA) and for Desert Energy Transmission Corridors, Principal Investigator (2021-Present)
- Assessing change in forest density and fuel loads in the absence of fire (1941-2018) at Lassen Volcanic NP using historic aerial photos, Principal Investigator (2019-Present)
- Evaluating the response of California Delta riparian ecosystems to anthropogenic and climate stressors, Principal investigator (2019-2021)
- Detection and monitoring of fire-prone early season invasive grasses in the Southwest, Co-investigator (2020-2021)
- Wildfire probability mapping based on regional soil moisture models. Co-investigator, (2020-2022)
- Assessing Vulnerability to Drought in Dryland Ecosystems of the Western U.S. Co-investigator, (2016-2018)
Professional Experience
2011-Present: Research Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey
2011-2013: Mendenhall Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey
2009-2011: Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona
2006-2009: Research Associate, Arizona Remote Sensing Center, University of Arizona
2001- 2005: Research Associate, Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Arizona
B.A. from the University of California, Davis
Science and Products
Wildfire Probability Mapping Based on Regional Soil Moisture Models
Assessing the Vulnerability of Dryland Ecosystems to Drought in the Western U.S.
Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) data of wildfires in the Sky Island Mountains of the southwestern US and northern Mexico from 2011-2017
High-resolution object-based image classifications of biological soil crusts and vegetation (Beef Basin, Utah)
Mapped fire perimeters from the Sky Island Mountains of US and Mexico: 1985-2011
Dataset for climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S.
5-year Relative Fractional Vegetation Cover at Abandoned Energy Development Sites on the Colorado Plateau
Grassland State and Transition Map of Canyonlands National Park Needles District and Indian Creek Grazing Allotment
Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) data of wildfires in the Sky Island Mountains of the southwestern US and Northern Mexico from 1985-2011
Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems
Contemporary fire regimes provide a critical perspective on restoration needs in the Mexico-United States borderlands
Ultra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems
Wildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019)
Rating fire danger from the ground up
A mosaic of land tenure and ownership creates challenges and opportunities for transboundary conservation in the US-Mexico borderlands
Landsat time series assessment of invasive annual grasses following energy development
Distant neighbors: recent wildfire patterns of the Madrean Sky Islands of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
Landsat time series analysis of fractional plant cover changes on abandoned energy development sites
Evaluating and monitoring forest fuel treatments using remote sensing applications in Arizona, U.S.A.
Identifying optimal remotely-sensed variables for ecosystem monitoring in Colorado Plateau drylands
Evaluating land-use change scenarios for the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, within the ecosystem recovery target model-based framework
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 14
Wildfire Probability Mapping Based on Regional Soil Moisture Models
Wildfires scorched 10 million acres across the United States in 2015, and for the first time on record, wildfire suppression costs topped $2 billion. Wildfire danger modeling is an important tool for understanding when and where wildfires will occur, and recent work by our team in the South Central United States has shown wildfire danger models may be improved by incorporating soil moisture informAssessing the Vulnerability of Dryland Ecosystems to Drought in the Western U.S.
In the western U.S., rising temperatures and pronounced drought conditions pose significant challenges to public land managers. Widespread declines of multiple plant species have already been observed, providing insight into what the future could look like for vegetation in the region as conditions are projected to become warmer and drier. To understand how vulnerable western ecosystems are to dro - Data
Filter Total Items: 19
Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) data of wildfires in the Sky Island Mountains of the southwestern US and northern Mexico from 2011-2017
This dataset is composed of 97 Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) images. Each dNBR represents a rough measure of fire-related vegetation change for wildfires (>400 ha) that occurred in the Sky Island Mountains within the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion of the United States and Northern Mexico. These fires occurred between 2011 and 2017 and were mapped using Landsat 7 and 8 satellite imagery.High-resolution object-based image classifications of biological soil crusts and vegetation (Beef Basin, Utah)
This dataset contains 10 classified raster images identifying the distribution and condition of biological soil crusts using high-resolution imagery from Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Also included are: a supplemental accuracy report and accuracy matrix for each classified image, and all associated accessory files. These images are located in Beef Basin, Southeastern Utah, and focuses on two ecolMapped fire perimeters from the Sky Island Mountains of US and Mexico: 1985-2011
Polygon locations of fire perimeters in the Sky Island mountain ranges in the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These fires occurred from 1985 to 2011 and were mapped using Landsat satellite imagery.Dataset for climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S.
This climate and vegetation index dataset was collected from readily available open source data, such as Landsat. The data represents points across the northern Colorado plateau. The vegetation type was defined based on U.S. Geological Survey ReGAP data. Using compositing techniques by season we developed a dataset of lag and legacy for each point. We could then look to understand how both lag and5-year Relative Fractional Vegetation Cover at Abandoned Energy Development Sites on the Colorado Plateau
This data release contains a single vector shapefile and two text documents with code used to generate the data product. This vector shapefile contains the locations of 365 "plugged and abandoned" well sites from across the Colorado Plateau with their respective relative fractional vegetation cover (RFVC) values. Oil and gas pads are often developed for production, and then capped, reclaimed, anGrassland State and Transition Map of Canyonlands National Park Needles District and Indian Creek Grazing Allotment
This raster data depicts the modeled distribution of three grassland states: Biocrust, Grass-bare, and Annualized-bare. We developed models of bare ground, total vegetation, exotic grasses and biological soil crust using spectral data from three year composites of growing season (March-October) Landsat data in Google Earth Engine and field data that were collected over the same period at monitorinDifferenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) data of wildfires in the Sky Island Mountains of the southwestern US and Northern Mexico from 1985-2011
This dataset is composed of 253 Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) images. Each dNBR represents a rough measure of fire-related vegetation change for wildfires (>400 ha) that occurred in the Sky Island Mountains within the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion of the United States and Northern Mexico. These fires occurred between 1985 and 2011 and were mapped using Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellite - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 42
Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems
Non-forest ecosystems, dominated by shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, provide ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and forage for grazing, and are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Yet these ecosystems are poorly represented in remotely sensed biomass products and are undersampled by in situ monitoring. Current global change threats emphasize the need for new tools to captureAuthorsAndrew Cunliffe, Karen Anderson, Fabio Boschetti, Richard E. Brazier, Hugh A. Graham, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Thomas Astor, Matthias M. Boer, Leonor G. Calvo, Patrick Clark, Michael D. Cramer, Miguel S. Encinas-Lara, Stephen M. Escarzaga, Adrian Fisher, José M Fernández-Guisuraga, Kateřina Gdulová, Breahna M. Gillespie, Anne Griebel, Niall P Hanan, Muhammed S. Hanggito, Stefan Haselberger, Caroline A. Havrilla, Phil Heilman, Wenjie Ji, Jason W. Karl, Sabine Kraushaar, Marguerite E. Mauritz, Mitchell Lyons, Irene Marzolff, C. D. McIntire, Daniel Metzen, Luis A. Mendez-Barroso, Simon C. Power, Jiri Prosek, Enoc Sanz-Ablanedo, Katherine J. Sauer, Damian Schulze-Brüninghoff, Petra Šímová, Stephen Sitch, Julian L. Smit, Caiti M. Steele, Susana Suárez-Seoane, Sergio A. Vargas, Fleur Visser, Miguel L. Villarreal, Michael Wachendorf, Hannes Wirnsberger, Robert WojcikiewiczContemporary fire regimes provide a critical perspective on restoration needs in the Mexico-United States borderlands
The relationship between people and wildfire has always been paradoxical: fire is an essential ecological process and management tool, but can also be detrimental to life and property. Consequently, fire regimes have been modified throughout history through both intentional burning to promote benefits and active suppression to reduce risks. Reintroducing fire and its benefits back into the Sky IslAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, José M. Iniguez, Aaron D. Flesch, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Citlali Cortés Montaño, Caroline Rose Conrad, Sandra L. HaireUltra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur in drylands globally where they support ecosystem functioning by increasing soil stability, reducing dust emissions and modifying soil resource availability (e.g. water, nutrients). Determining biocrust condition and extent across landscapes continues to present considerable challenges to scientists and land managers. Biocrusts grow in patches, cover vast eAuthorsCaroline Havrilla, Miguel L. Villarreal, Jacob DiBiase, Michael C. Duniway, Nichole BargerWildfire risk and hazardous fuel reduction treatments along the US-Mexico border: A review of the science (1985-2019)
The ecosystems along the border between the United States and Mexico are at increasing risk to wildfire due to interactions among climate, land-use, and fuel loads. A wide range of fuel treatments have been implemented to mitigate wildfire and its threats to valued resources, yet we have little information about treatment effectiveness. To fill critical knowledge gaps, we reviewed wildfire risk anAuthorsKatherine M. Laushman, Seth M. Munson, Timothy N. TitusRating fire danger from the ground up
Soil moisture information could improve assessments of wildfire probabilities and fuel conditions, resulting in better fire danger ratings.AuthorsMatthew Levi, Erik S. Krueger, Grant J. Snitker, Tyson Ochsner, Miguel L. Villarreal, Emile H. Elias, Dannele E. PeckA mosaic of land tenure and ownership creates challenges and opportunities for transboundary conservation in the US-Mexico borderlands
In the Madrean Sky Islands of western North America, a mixture of public and private land ownership and tenure creates a complex situation for collaborative efforts in conservation. In this case study, we describe the current ownership and management structures in the US-Mexico borderlands where social, political, and economic conditions create extreme pressures on the environment and challenges fAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Sandra L. Haire, Juan Carlos Bravo, Laura M. NormanLandsat time series assessment of invasive annual grasses following energy development
Invasive annual grasses are of concern in many areas of the Western United States because they tolerate resource variability and have high reproductive capacity, with propagules that are readily dispersed in disturbed areas like those created and maintained for energy development. Early-season invasive grasses “green up” earlier than the most native plants, producing a distinct pulse of greennessAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Christopher E. Soulard, Eric WallerDistant neighbors: recent wildfire patterns of the Madrean Sky Islands of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
BackgroundInformation about contemporary fire regimes across the Sky Island mountain ranges of the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico can provide insight into how historical fire management and land use have influenced fire regimes, and can be used to guide fuels management, ecological restoration, and habitat conservation. To contribute to a betterAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Sandra L. Haire, José M. Iniguez, Citlali Cortés Montaño, Travis B. PoitrasLandsat time series analysis of fractional plant cover changes on abandoned energy development sites
Oil and natural gas development in the western United States has increased substantially in recent decades as technological advances like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made extraction more commercially viable. Oil and gas pads are often developed for production, and then capped, reclaimed, and left to recover when no longer productive. Understanding the rates, controls, and degAuthorsEric K. Waller, Miguel L. Villarreal, Travis B. Poitras, Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. DuniwayEvaluating and monitoring forest fuel treatments using remote sensing applications in Arizona, U.S.A.
The practice of fire suppression across the western United States over the past century has led to dense forests, and when coupled with drought has contributed to an increase in large and destructive wildfires. Forest management efforts aimed at reducing flammable fuels through various fuel treatments can help to restore frequent fire regimes and increase forest resilience. Our research examines hAuthorsRoy Petrakis, Miguel L. Villarreal, Zhuoting Wu, Robert Hetzler, Barry R. Middleton, Laura M. NormanIdentifying optimal remotely-sensed variables for ecosystem monitoring in Colorado Plateau drylands
Water-limited ecosystems often recover slowly following anthropogenic or natural disturbance. Multitemporal remote sensing can be used to monitor ecosystem recovery after disturbance; however, dryland vegetation cover can be challenging to accurately measure due to sparse cover and spectral confusion between soils and non-photosynthetic vegetation. With the goal of optimizing a monitoring approachAuthorsTravis B. Poitras, Miguel L. Villarreal, Eric K. Waller, Travis W. Nauman, Mark E. Miller, Michael C. DuniwayEvaluating land-use change scenarios for the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, within the ecosystem recovery target model-based framework
The Puget Sound Basin, Washington, has experienced rapid urban growth in recent decades, with varying impacts to local ecosystems and natural resources. To plan for future growth, land managers often use scenarios to assess how the pattern and volume of growth may affect natural resources. Using three different land-management scenarios for the years 2000–2060, we assessed various spatial patternsAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Danielle Aiello, Bill Labiosa - News