Post-Fire Natural Regeneration Trends in Bolivia: 2001–2021

Abstract

In the last 21 years, Bolivia has recorded a series of thousands of wildfires that impacted an area of 24 million hectares, mainly in the departments of Beni and Santa Cruz. In this sense, identifying trends in the increase of natural vegetation after wildfires is a fundamental step in implementing strategies and public policies to ensure ecosystem recovery. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial trends of the increase and decrease in vegetation affected by wildfires for the whole of Bolivia, for the period 2001–2021, using non-parametric tests, through the analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) remote sensing products. The results indicated that 53.6% of the area showed an increasing trend (p < 0.05) and 15.9% of the area showed a decreasing trend (p < 0.05). In terms of land cover type, forests were proportionally represented by 18.1% of the areas that showed an increasing trend (p < 0.05) and 3.0% of the forests showed a decreasing trend (p < 0.05). In contrast, non-forested areas showed an increasing trend of 35.5% and 12.9% showed a decreasing trend (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that there is a continuous regeneration process throughout the country.