Wayne, I have heard this "fire dependent" terminology in reference to both community types and specific plants. However, most often it has been in reference to community types that included dominant fire adapted species. I also have heard more convincingly that lodgepole pine, _Pinus contorta_, was fire dependent due to serotinous cones. I accepted this without judgement. However, one of these references suggests that though serotinous, under warm enough conditions 45 - 50 C soil surface temperature) the cones may open without fire. I wonder if soils in the northern portions and higher elevations of the range get that hot, but I don't know.
I have also heard the term applied to Longleaf Pine, _Pinus palustris_ , and the communities that it dominated prior to extensive exploitation of the SE U.S. forests. My understanding has always been that in that case, more shade tolerant species that have seeds that can reach the soil surface despite dense grassy understory replace the longleaf pine when fire is absent from an area for extensive time. Here are some references, some of them secondary, that discuss these phenomena. I am definitely not a forest or fire ecologist. David McNeely ---- Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > Ecolog: > > I just caught a video production on TV done by a major governmental fire > authority. It contained a mixture of truth and superstition, as well as some > questionable assumptions that y'all can help me clear up. > > 1. A uniformed fire official claimed that some plants are DEPENDENT upon fire > for their survival. He did not say that some plants are ADAPTED to fire, he > said "dependent." > > Please share your knowledge and references, please. > > Thanks, > > WT -- David McNeely
