Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Wildland fire in ecosystems: fire and nonnative invasive plants

Author: Zouhar, Kristin; Smith, Jane Kapler; Sutherland, Steve; Brooks, Matthew L.

Date: 2008

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 6. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 355 p.

Station ID: GTR-RMRS-042

Description: This state-of-knowledge review of information on relationships between wildland fire and nonnative invasive plants can assist fire managers and other land managers concerned with prevention, detection, and eradication or control of nonnative invasive plants. The 16 chapters in this volume synthesize ecological and botanical principles regarding relationships between wildland fire and nonnative invasive plants, identify the nonnative invasive species currently of greatest concern in major bioregions of the United States, and describe emerging fire-invasive issues in each bioregion and throughout the nation. This volume can help increase understanding of plant invasions and fire and can be used in fire management and ecosystem-based management planning. The volume's first part summarizes fundamental concepts regarding fire effects on invasions by nonnative plants, effects of plant invasions on fuels and fire regimes, and use of fire to control plant invasions. The second part identifies the nonnative invasive species of greatest concern and synthesizes information on the three topics covered in part one for nonnative invasives in seven major bioregions of the United States: Northeast, Southeast, Central, Interior West, Southwest Coastal, Northwest Coastal (including Alaska), and Hawaiian Islands. The third part analyzes knowledge gaps regarding fire and nonnative invasive plants, synthesizes information on management questions (nonfire fuel treatments, postfire rehabilitation, and postfire monitoring), summarizes key concepts described throughout the volume, and discusses urgent management issues and research questions.

Keywords: ecosystem, fire effects, fire management, fire regime, fire severity, fuels, grass/fire cycle, invasibility, invasiveness, monitoring, nonnative species, plant community

View and Print this Publication (14.4 MB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• You may send email to rschneider@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication. (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Zouhar, Kristin; Smith, Jane Kapler; Sutherland, Steve; Brooks, Matthew L.  2008.  Wildland fire in ecosystems: fire and nonnative invasive plants.   Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 6. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 355 p..