Aliens and flames – when fire ecology meets invasion ecology

It is widely known that plant invaders normally benefit from disturbance. Fire is one of the best examples of this relationship. The relation between fire and invasive plants can be bi-directional when fire promotes plant invasions, and these promote fire, leading to a feedback loop that is, in many cases, hard to break. Here we explore this relationship using examples mostly from Portugal and other mediterranean-type regions. Given the changes in climate, this topic is also relevant for countries and regions where fire occurrence is expected to increase in the future.

Speaker: Joaquim Sande Silva, Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Portugal

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