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Relationship between invasive plants, fire subject of new report

The relationship between fire and invasive plant species is complex, to say the least. On the one hand, fire, like other disturbances, can create conditions that promote population explosions of invasive plants, so-named because they are both nonnative and potentially harmful to the ecosystems they inhabit. On the other, fire can be a management tool that curtails invasive plant growth.

A new general technical report published by the USDA Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station explores this dynamic by summarizing completed and ongoing research conducted as part of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP). Titled Invasive Plant Species and the Joint Fire Science Program, the publication is organized around four questions:

• What factors influence community susceptibility to invasion by nonnative species after fire?
• How do fuel reduction treatments affect invasives?
• How do plant invasions affect fire regimes?
• What are effective mitigation strategies against invasive plants?

An electronic copy of the publication is available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr707.pdf. Printed copies will be available December 9.

To learn more about the Station’s publications and to request printed copies, visit http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications.

The PNW Research Station is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It has 11 laboratories and centers located in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington and about 500 employees.

Publication citation: Erickson, H.E. and White, R. 2007. Invasive plant species and the Joint Fire Science Program. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-707. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 18 p.

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