Projects

Fire ecology, flammability, plant traits

Fire may act as a selective force on plants both through its direct effects by killing or wounding susceptible individuals and through its effect on the environment. My research has argued that plants may act as authors of their own fate by influencing the environment that they or their offpsring experience. Are some plants “born to burn” in order to kill their neighbors? Current work in the lab includes investigation of how plant water use strategies and physiology influences the flammability of plant crowns, how species differ in potential ember production, how grassland community composition influences flammability and fuel loads, and woody plant vs grass interactions mediated by fire.