T
T
T
Fire Regime - Report

Fire regimes of Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub communities

Written
April, 2026
Fire Regime Type
Report

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub communities. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/fire-regimes/mojave-mid-elevation-mixed-desert-scrub

A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub Biophysical Settings (BpS) provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). Figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur.

Map of the far southwestern United States showing the distribution of Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub communities, mostly in southeastern California, southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona, with other occurrences throughout Arizona and in Utah and New Mexico.
Photo Credit
Map based on the LANDFIRE (2020) BpS data layer [1].

Figure 1—Land cover distribution of Mojave mid-elevation mixed desert scrub Biophysical Settings (BpS). Numbers indicate LANDFIRE map zones.

2020 LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings — Historical Fire Regime Characteristics
Biophysical SettingMean Fire Interval (years)Fire Severity Percent (%)
CodeFire Regime GroupLowMixedReplacementAllLowMixedReplacement
Series 10820 - Mojave Mid-Elevation Mixed Desert Scrub
10820_12_15_16_17_23_24V-B81581500100
10820_14V-A40640600100
10820_4_13V-A39939900100
10820_6V-B51651600100
Summary
Minimum39939900100
Maximum81581500100
Mean53453400100
Median46146100100
Percentage of fires in 3 fire severity classes, derived from LANDFIRE succession modeling. Replacement-severity fires cause >75% kill or top-kill of the upper canopy layer; mixed-severity fires cause 26%-75%; low-severity fires cause <26%.
LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: https://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [96496]

1. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings layer, CONUS (LANDFIRE 2.2.0). In: LANDFIRE download data mosaic products, [Online]. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey; U.S. Department of Agriculture (Producer). Available: https://www.landfire.gov/version_download.php [2023, June 20]. [98050]

2. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: http://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [2022, February 2]. [96496]

Last updated May 7, 2026