Breaking the grass-fire cycle: modeled effects of post-fire treatments on risk of reburning, relative to fire-weather effects

Invasion by combustible exotic annual grasses and increased prevalence of extreme fire weather is causing shortened wildfire return intervals in drylands across the western United States. Seeding perennial vegetation and herbicide are used to “break” this exotic grass-fire cycle, but reburning often occurs in rapid succession. We asked how fuels, characterized as fire behavior fuel models (FBFMs), were affected by post-fire treatments. We also considered how the resulting landscape changes affec