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Understanding the indirect and interactive effects of environmental stressors is critical to planning conservation interventions, but such effects are poorly understood. For example, invasive species may modify fire effects by altering fire intensity or frequency, increasing or decreasing their abundance in response to fire, and/or changing the trajectory of post‐fire recovery. Without a clear understanding of the direct, indirect, and interactive effects of prescribed fire and invasive species on native plants, managers cannot design effective conservation measures and risk exacerbating invasion through fire or wasting resources on approaches that do not yield desired results. In this study, researchers worked directly with the manager of a wet meadow in southern Idaho to explore how prescribed fire would directly and indirectly impact an iconic native herb (Camassia quamash) in areas invaded by a perennial pasture grass (Alopecurus arundinaceus). We found that spring prescribed fire increased the abundance of invasiveA. arundinaceus, which indirectly strengthened its suppression ofC. quamashgrowth and reproduction. In contrast, fire reversed the negative influence ofA. arundinaceusonC. quamashsurvival. Survival rates ofC. quamashwere higher after fire in areas with greater invasive grass abundance. This study points to the importance of understanding the indirect and interactive effects of prescribed fire and invasives on native plants across their life cycle for restoration projects and suggests fire, at least in spring, is not an appropriate management strategy for reducingA. arundinaceusinvasion at this site. 

Meet the world’s most wanted parasite: a mummified caterpillar with a fungus growing right out of its face. Even stranger: it costs three times its weight in gold! This super expensive fungus grows in the alpine regions of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau where it is cold and dry. Its promised health benefits include increased strength and cures for many diseases. Recently, it has become very popular around the world. Its price has increased and collectors have started harvesting more. But lately, some people have become concerned that the fungus populations are declining. We wanted to see if that is the case, and if so, why? So, we interviewed local harvesters and analyzed environmental models of the region. Our results showed that there is a decline in the caterpillar fungus populations, and the main causes are overharvesting and climate change.