(Deon) Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Really???Yes, I just said so. I was wondering how more regular burns would impact the seeding of the vegetation. Hence my query over who/what is "devastated" - That is after all one of the deciding factors as to how often one has controlled burns. WHAT are you talking about?
Flowta Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Yes, I just said so. I was wondering how more regular burns would impact the seeding of the vegetation. Hence my query over who/what is "devastated" - That is after all one of the deciding factors as to how often one has controlled burns. WHAT are you talking about? Sorry, I was thinking more along the lines of of reducing run away fires. Misread (missed) the bit about it being helping the seed bank.
Flowta Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Sorry, I was thinking more along the lines of of reducing run away fires. Misread (missed) the bit about it being helping the seed bank. But that being said, a PROPER burn plan would go a long way to reducing the amount of alien vegetation
Eddy Gordo Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 What are the devastating effects, to man or nature? Not sure how the effects of a fire every 4 years can be improved by having one every 2 years?The y mentioned that because during that spell the vegetation becomes to thick causing a hotter fire and even burning most seeds. Where as the controlled burns allow for better seed generation as well as seedling growth. But remember this is Bahamas and not South Africa, our reasons would be different. Vegetation looked similar ad climate is not And to add,the wild/natural fires every 4 years are more destructive versus the controlled 2 year interval as they can select areas which to burn that causes concern for wild fires hence drastically reducing runaway fires.
DJR Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 The way I understand it after listening to a few (fanatical) burning and anti-burning experts is something like this: What you want is a patchwork of young, medium and old fynbos on the mountain. How to get that through controlled burns, that is the difficult part. Young fynbos will not burn, or it will burn but not run away, almost stop by itself.Old fynbos that is ready to burn will burn so fiercely that it is near impossible to control.Somewhere in between is where you want it to burn in an urban setting like Table Mountain. If you have this patchwork, you will not have the huge runaway fires that burn the whole mountain in one go. Controlled burning is a VERY difficult thing to do on a rugged steep mountain. Long story short......not even the experts agree on WHAT should be done, let alone HOW it should be done. In non urban settings, where lives and property are not threatened, best conservation practice is simply to let burns happen naturally and to leave it to burn out naturally.
sawystertrance Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 The way I understand it after listening to a few (fanatical) burning and anti-burning experts is something like this: What you want is a patchwork of young, medium and old fynbos on the mountain. How to get that through controlled burns, that is the difficult part. Young fynbos will not burn, or it will burn but not run away, almost stop by itself.Old fynbos that is ready to burn will burn so fiercely that it is near impossible to control.Somewhere in between is where you want it to burn in an urban setting like Table Mountain. If you have this patchwork, you will not have the huge runaway fires that burn the whole mountain in one go. Controlled burning is a VERY difficult thing to do on a rugged steep mountain. Long story short......not even the experts agree on WHAT should be done, let alone HOW it should be done. In non urban settings, where lives and property are not threatened, best conservation practice is simply to let burns happen naturally and to leave it to burn out naturally.Why would you want a patchwork of fynbos of different ages? Most take about 15 years or so to produce seeds and if you burn them then, you run risk of destroying the younger plants which haven't produced seeds yet. Unless by patchwork you mean "sectors" of growth of the same age. Even then, different species produce seeds at different rates.
DJR Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Why would you want a patchwork of fynbos of different ages? Most take about 15 years or so to produce seeds and if you burn them then, you run risk of destroying the younger plants which haven't produced seeds yet. Unless by patchwork you mean "sectors" of growth of the same age. Even then, different species produce seeds at different rates. No, it is purely so that when a fire starts on the mountain, it will be more manageable, in that the younger sections will not burn and will make it easier to control when the older parts catch fire. I didn't mean a small patchwork, I meant a very large patchwork, with big blocks of varying ages. Re. the recent Table Mountain fires - If the Silvermine part of the mountain was ready to burn (+15 years old) it would have burnt no matter what firefighters did, but if the adjacent part, Tokai, had young (-5 years old) fynbos, that probably would not have burnt, or it would have been possible to stop it from burning. What caused this fire to run away was the fact that everything from Kalk Bay to Hout Bay was the same mature (15 years old) age and all of it was ready to burn at once. Hope this make more sense now.
sawystertrance Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 No, it is purely so that when a fire starts on the mountain, it will be more manageable, in that the younger sections will not burn and will make it easier to control when the older parts catch fire. I didn't mean a small patchwork, I meant a very large patchwork, with big blocks of varying ages. Re. the recent Table Mountain fires - If the Silvermine part of the mountain was ready to burn (+15 years old) it would have burnt no matter what firefighters did, but if the adjacent part, Tokai, had young (-5 years old) fynbos, that probably would not have burnt, or it would have been possible to stop it from burning. What caused this fire to run away was the fact that everything from Kalk Bay to Hout Bay was the same mature (15 years old) age and all of it was ready to burn at once. Hope this make more sense now.Ja, sort of. I misunerstood your patchwork size. Motivated by the fires, I recently read a great explanation of the role of fire in fynbos in one of the books I have. What became clear is the effect of urbanisation and man-made fires. Of course factors like wind make the spread of fire very unpredictable, even in young fynbos, but I think the effect of natural fires would be to create the very patchwork you talk about. Boy, we ruin the world, don't we?
sawystertrance Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Jirre. Misunerstood? Sorry man. But I'm sure you get it.
DJR Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 .............. Boy, we ruin the world, don't we?Sad, but you are 100% right!
kader01 Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 hi does anyone know if jonkershoek trail is open after the fire? also is it safe since I expect there won't be much people in the week.
Simonpurdon Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 10km circle route and Neverendingstory is open. Rode this yesterday, very eery.
sawystertrance Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Work is progressing fast at the bottom of the fire hut trail(sob)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.