Mercedes Bachfischer

Mercedes Bachfischer


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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28 May 2022 in Fire
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Oswaldo MaillardOswaldo Maillard
Oswaldo Maillard
Marcio Flores-ValenciaMarcio Flores-Valencia
Marcio Flores-Valencia
GMGilka Michme
Gilka Michme
RCRoger Coronado
Roger Coronado
MBMercedes Bachfischer
Mercedes Bachfischer
NMNicolas Mielich
Nicolas Mielich
The natural regeneration of ecosystems impacted by fires is a high priority in Bolivia, and represents one of the country’s greatest environmental challenges. With the abundance of spatial data and access to improved technologies, it is critical to provide an effective method of analysis to evaluate changes in land use in the face of the global need to understand the dynamics of vegetation in regeneration processes. In this context, we evaluated the dynamics of natural regeneration through phenological patterns by measuring the maximal and minimal spectral thresholds at four fire-impacted sites in Chiquitania in 2019 and 2020, and compared them with unburned areas using harmonic fitted values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR). We used two-way ANOVA test to evaluate the significant differences in the values of the profiles of NDVI and NBR indices. We quantified severity at the four study sites using the dNBR obtained from the difference between pre- and postfire NBR. Additionally, we selected 66 sampling sites to apply the Composite Burn Index (CBI) methodology. Our results indicate that NBR is the most reliable index for interannual comparisons and determining changes in the phenological pattern, which allow for the detection of postfire regeneration. Fire severity levels based on dNBR and CBI indices are reliable methodologies that allow for determining the severity and dynamics of changes in postfire regeneration levels in forested and nonforested areas.