It is found worldwide, mainly in urban areas and next to roads on dry sand soils.

[2] It can grow in a very wide variety of habitats, from polluted highway shoulders and mine tailings to areas recently denuded by wildfire to the bright slopes of Antarctica.

[9] Fire moss likely occurs in every country but is possibly replaced by closely related taxa in tropical latitudes.

[11] It is common in urban and industrial environments subjected to a variety of pollutants, along highways, and on the tailings and refuse associated with both coal and heavy-metal mining activities.

It occurs on a wide range of substrates including soil, rock, wood, humus, old roofs, sand, and cracks of sidewalks.

[5] Sand dunes close to water in Scotland are colonized by fire moss, which grows between the shoots of grasses.

[8] A 2012 study found that male and female fire moss emit different and complex volatile organic scents.

[14] Fire moss prefers low competition and high light; however, it is somewhat shade tolerant,[15][16] and has, for example, been reported to grow in artificially illuminated caves.

[citation needed] Fire moss is typically found associated with other species characteristic of disturbed sites such as fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) and pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea).

[11] This article incorporates text from the following source, which (as a U.S. government work) is in the public domain: Tesky, Julie L. 1992.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.