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Submodule 8: Ecological Impacts
Fire's Effect on Selected Invasive Plants
Cogongrass (photo courtesy NPS)
Salt cedar (Tamarix ssp.) has devastated countless riparian areas in the western U.S., mainly because of its high water use. Fire is one method used to control this invasive plant. While salt cedar burns quite well, fire actually encourages underground nodes to sprout from its roots. The consequence of wildfires in salt cedar infested riparian areas is that growth of salt cedar is actually encouraged and waterways are further damaged. For this reason, fire control of salt cedar needs to be combined with other control methods such as herbicide application.
In the eastern U.S., fire is also used as a method of invasive plant control. Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrical), native to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, China, and Japan, is posing a threat to the ecology of the southeastern U.S. Once infestation has occurred, the grass can alter the fire regime (as cheatgrass does in the western areas of the country) by increasing fire frequency and intensity. A major problem is that, both wildfires and prescribed burns for land management encourages the spread of cogongrass is due to its quick re-growth from underground rhizomes. Thus, like salt cedar, it must be treated with both fire and herbicides for complete eradication.
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