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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Reno, Nevada » Great Basin Rangelands Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #273525
Title: Wildfire and invasive plants in American deserts: a special feature

Author
item Weltz, Mark
item COATES-MARKLE, LINDA - Bureau Of Land Management
item NARAYANAN, RANG - University Of Nevada

Submitted to: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/7/2011
Publication Date: 9/20/2011
Citation: Weltz, M.A., Coates-Markle, L., Narayanan, R. 2011. Wildfire and invasive plants in American deserts: a special feature. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 64(5):429-430.

Interpretive Summary: The Society for Range Management (SRM) and 26 partners hosted a special conference in Reno, Nevada in December of 2008 in response to the need to provide information for the management of native rangelands in the face of challenges posed by the interactions of invasive plants and wildfire. SRM hosted the Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts Conference through its Center for Professional Education and Development (CPED) and over 300 people participated in this unique event. The purpose of the conference was to explore the interactions between invasive plants, native plants, and its impact on wildfire intensity and frequency across the intermountain west. A primary goal of the conference was to provide for the exchange of knowledge between the scientific community, land managers, and other stakeholders and synthesize what is known about the impacts associated with the interactions between invasive plants and wildfire so that land managers will have state-of the-art knowledge to address this critical issue. The five new papers in this issue of Rangeland Ecology and Management provide a detailed synthesis of the scientific literature of what is known about the impacts of wildfire and invasive plants on intermountain rangelands. It is timely that the SRM now publishes these synthesis publications on what is known about the adverse impacts of wildfires and invasive plants while hundreds of thousands of hectares are burning across the southwestern United States. We hope that this special feature will provide the knowledge necessary to more effectively assess current impacts from wildfire and invasive plants and management strategies to minimize pending future impacts.

Technical Abstract: The Society for Range Management (SRM) and 26 partners hosted a special conference in Reno, Nevada in December of 2008 in response to the need to provide information for the management of native rangelands in the face of challenges posed by the interactions of invasive plants and wildfire. SRM hosted the Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts Conference through its Center for Professional Education and Development (CPED) and over 300 people participated in this unique event. The purpose of the conference was to explore the interactions between invasive plants, native plants, and its impact on wildfire intensity and frequency across the intermountain west. A primary goal of the conference was to provide for the exchange of knowledge between the scientific community, land managers, and other stakeholders and synthesize what is known about the impacts associated with the interactions between invasive plants and wildfire so that land managers will have state-of the-art knowledge to address this critical issue. The five new papers in this issue of Rangeland Ecology and Management provide a detailed synthesis of the scientific literature of what is known about the impacts of wildfire and invasive plants on intermountain rangelands. It is timely that the SRM now publishes these synthesis publications on what is known about the adverse impacts of wildfires and invasive plants while hundreds of thousands of hectares are burning across the southwestern United States. We hope that this special feature will provide the knowledge necessary to more effectively assess current impacts from wildfire and invasive plants and management strategies to minimize pending future impacts.