Re: Fires

["James Bielecki" <bieleckj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>Ecologies that can tolerate fires are all well and good, but I find >>it hard to believe that any biosystem really depends on fires.  

This is decidedly off topic but your statement is full of crap.  I'm a Forester who does this stuff for a living and there are plenty of examples of fire-dependent ecosystems located all over the world.  The Jack Pine/Pin Oak ecosystem located in Michigan's Northern Lower Peninsula (USA) is a perfect example.  This is a large expanse of glacial outwash, dominated by the fire-dependent species such as Jack Pine, that has burned repeatedly and regularly since the glaciers left this part of the world 10,000 years ago.  All types of fire-dependent life forms are found here and one bird, the Kirtland's Warbler, nests here and nowhere else in the world (winters in the Bahamas).  

I can't speak for what happens in Australia but fires are a natural part of the ecosystem and those who claim otherwise really don't know what they're talking about.

Jim Bielecki
Silviculturist
Forest Management Division
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1732 West M-32, Gaylord MI.  49735

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