Fire and Invasive Plants -- Combustibility of Native and
Invasive Exotic Plants Alison C. Dibble, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 686
Government Rd., Bradley, ME 04411 William A. Patterson III,
Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 Robert H. White, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products
Laboratory, Madison, WI 53705-2398 The ease with which a plant
fuel catches fire – its combustibility, or flammability, might
differ between native plants versus invasive exotic plants that
overtake their habitat. By comparing combustibility in these two
groups of plants, we are seeking to improve the effectiveness of
prescribed fire and the assessment of fire hazards in the
Northeastern U.S. Risk of wildfire could be greater in the
wildland-urban interface if invasive plants are dense and have
higher combustibility than the native species. Conversely, a
fire-prone ecosystem invaded by exotics might have