Fire & Bromus hordeaceous

In California Bromus hordeaceous is an invasive grass that can often be reduced by fire. This invasive brome can grow in most ecosystems but is mostly found in low elevation valleys and foothills in California and southwestern Oregon. B. hordeaceous or soft chess is also an important component of some sagebrush communities, especially where cheatgrass is dominant.

Although soft chess is an invasive species to not just California, but also the US, it is a nutritious and palatable forage plant for livestock and wildlife. Cattle often graze soft chess well into the summer, as it is a late maturing grass and the cattle are able to gain extra nutrition from the seeds once the plant is mature.

In relation to fire, summer and fall fires have no effect on soft chess as its seeds have usually shattered when the fire season starts. Also the seed is not killed until the fire reaches a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Although fire does not directly affect the soft chess plant, fire can affect the abundance of soft chess postifre. This is because the fire removes most of the mulch which is favorable in order for soft chess to grow.

Due to the mixed effects of fire on soft chess, use of prescribed burns to increase the balance of native to non-native grasses has mixed results. However, fire can tip the balance towards native plants due to the effects that fire can have on grasses post-fire.

Source:

Howard, Janet L. 1998. Bromus hordeaceus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). 
Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2016, June 1].