Increased wildfire has been observed with the displacement of native cottonwood-willow (Salix and Populus spp.) gallery forests by invasive, non-native tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) in desert riparian zones of North America. Greater post-fire recovery of Tamarix relative to native species suggests a Tamarix fire trajectory where repeated fire excludes native riparian species. This work synthesizes several experiments and addresses 2 questions: 1) Is there a positive feedback between Tamarix and fire intensity that excludes native vegetation? 2) Can the Tamarix fire trajectory be altered to allow the coexistence of natives?