Effects of Invasive Alien Plants on Fire Regimes

Plant invasions are widely recognized as significant threats to biodiversity conservation worldwide. One way invasions can affect native ecosystems is by changing fuel properties, which can in turn affect fire behavior and, ultimately, alter fire regime characteristics such as frequency, intensity, extent, type, and seasonality of fire. If the regime changes subsequently promote the dominance of the invaders, then an invasive plant-fire regime cycle can be established. As more ecosystem components and interactions are altered, restoration of preinvasion conditions becomes more difficult. Restoration may require managing fuel conditions, fire regimes, native plant communities, and other ecosystem properties in…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• UD
  U.S. Department of the Interior
• ES
  Ecological Society of America
• JF
  Joint Fire Science Program
• UF
  U.S. Forest Service