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
Remotely sensed fine-fuel changes from wildfire and prescribed fire in a semi-arid grassland
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
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
Remotely sensed fine-fuel changes from wildfire and prescribed fire in a semi-arid grassland
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