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Friday, February 14, 2025

How invasive plants drive a fire crisis in California

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Fire always He shaped the landscape in California. But today it burns, more often and spreads further than ever before-a change of human development, climate change and the dissemination of invasive species, which are non-family plants that have a negative impact on local ecosystems. Grasses and trees imported to California into agriculture, landscape shaping or accidentally transformed the dynamics of the state fire.

“Many non -family species can propagate fire faster than native plants,” says David Acuña, head of the Fireu CAL battalion, Forest Department and Fire Protection. This transformation is a overlooked driver of more and more destructive fires in California and around the world.

South California is dominated by bushes known as Chaparral. This landscape was historically characterized by miniature, promoted plants, and all native grass was long -term, keeping moisture and remained green for most of the year. The fires when they occurred were uncommon because the lightning strikes were uncommon. When the fires came on, they burned scorching, but they would not spread far because the open gaps between the plants worked like a natural fracture of the fire.

The introduction of non -native grass in 1700 fundamentally changed this balance. The grasses anticipated by European settlers have evolved next to the weighty grazing of farm animals and routine combustion, making them very resistant to interference. They made native species and filled the corners, creating a continuous carpet made of flammable material, especially along the changed areas, such as roads – the most essential starting points for fires.

Unlike long -term native grasses, these non -born grasses are annuals, which means that they die every year and grow back from seeds. Their miniature life cycle leaves a dense layer of arid, dead vegetation of overdue spring. “They have such a high surface for volume and are very flat and thin, so they maintain a lot of dead standing material, almost all year round,” says Carla D’Antonio, a researcher and professor of plant community at UC Santa Barbara. In May, dead grass covers the soil. “It is so flammable that it requires ignition – a cigarette, a spark from someone a stretch chain on a highway or lightning,” says Hugh Saford, a vegetation and ecology researcher at UC Davis.

The grass fill every available space – a phenomenon called fuel continuity. When the fire sparkles, the uninterrupted line of arid vegetation acts as a wick, carrying flames into corners. “People underestimate the destructivity of the grass, because you can quickly hammer them with a hoe, while the bush is quite difficult to reduce,” says d’Antonio. “But if the sparks and heat fly into a handful of introduced grasses, then – a boom – everything around you goes like gas. It spreads so quickly and is so continuous. It’s like throwing tissue paper on fire. “

Eucalyptus trees, introduced to California in the mid -nineteenth century from Australia, add another layer of risk of fire. Known for their aromatic smell, these trees have extremely flammable, greasy leaves. Their paper jaw moves and the wind catches, transporting the heat to half a mile. The problem arises when people plant them right next to their home, says Acuña. “You place a very scorching, very energetic plant, like an eucalyptus tree next to the house, which consists primarily of oil materials. It’s a very robust fire – he explains.

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