Prescribed Burns- restoring the longleaf pine ecosystem- EcoAdventures North Florida

wfsu.org/blog-c...
In Fire Climax Communities, fire is the controlling factor. It wipes out plants that can't survive it, and those with the evolutionary tools to survive fire are the foundation species of thriving and biodiverse habitats. In the southeast, that species is the longleaf pine. Knocked down in large numbers due to development and replaced by timber operations by faster growing slash pine, land managers are looking to restore longleaf pine/ wiregrass ecosystems. One of the tools used to do this is the prescribed burn. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission biologist Matt Hortman describes how and why FWC has taken on a role historically played by nature (starting forest fires) to provide a home for a diversity of forest animals.
Photos in the video provided by the Florida Archives and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

[@uphamtimothy]

Longleaf pine forests are essential for the red cockaded woodpecker. They adapted to the coniferous forests, while the ivory-billed woodpecker adapted to the deciduous forests. Except, the deciduous forests got felled in the Southeast. So now it is important to save the longleaf pine forests, so the red cockaded will not end up like the ivory-billed.

[@uphamtimothy]

It can be done, but it is lengthier. The deciduous trees that were felled during World War II, have not returned to their sizes in the 1930's. Franklin Roosevelt put the country through the Great Depression and World War II, but he was not the conservationist Theodore Roosevelt was.

[@uphamtimothy]

Such a move would encourage biological diversity within a longleaf pine forest. To develop resistance to diseases and infestation from native insect pest. Invasive species is a whole different matter. But genetic healthy forests encourages genetic healthy wildlife.