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Invasive plants can rewrite fire regimes and crowd out native vegetation

Invasive plants can rewrite fire regimes and crowd out native vegetation

Some non-native grasses and shrubs dry into continuous fine fuels that carry hotter, more frequent fires than the native mosaic once allowed — then resprout faster than local species.

The feedback converts shrublands or open woodland into alien grass seas that further exclude seedlings of the original flora. Invasion here is a habitat engineer, not only a species swap.

A new plant can rewrite a landscape’s fire calendar. When fuel continuity changes, the whole community that evolved with rarer burns can tip into a different ecosystem.

Shahzad Mahota Shahzad Mahota @shahzad-mahota

Invasive plants can rewrite fire regimes and crowd out native vegetation