Fire Dynamics of the Bolivian Amazon

Abstract

This study identifies the spatial and temporal trends, as well as the drivers, of fire dynamics in the Bolivian Amazon basin. Bolivia ranks in the top ten countries in terms of total annual burnt, with fires affecting an estimated 2.3 million hectares of forest in 2020. However, in comparison to the Brazilian Amazon, there has been little research into the fire regime in Bolivia. The sparse research and the limited literature on the subject indicate that fire activity is higher in the Bolivian Amazon basin’s dry forests and flooded savanna zones, and that agriculture and drought are the primary causes of fire activity. In this study, trend analysis and emerging hotspot analysis are deployed to identify the spatial and temporal patterns of fire activity and boosted regression tree models to identify the drivers of forest fire within each ecoregion of the Bolivian Amazon basin. Comparable to most of the Brazilian literature, this study finds that fire activity and fire season length is higher in the flooded Beni Savanna, and Chiquitano seasonally dry tropical forests than in the Bolivian Amazon ecoregion. This study also identifies moisture stress and human activity as the main drivers of fire dynamics within the region. It is intended that this research will offer a foundation for future research and conservation activities aimed at better understanding the fire regime of the Bolivian Amazon basin.