Re: Conservancy

Richard Wagner (dick@rmy.emory.edu)
Mon, 11 Mar 1996 08:25:25 -0500

dave evans wrote:
>
> > From: "Michael.Chamberland" <23274MJC@MSU.EDU>
> > > If these programs do exist, why aren't they working? This is just a
> >
> > How do you know they are not working?
>
> Well, If you take a population of plants from a location that is being
> 'developed,' grow and manage their genetic pool and basically maintain
> the viablity of this population, *How* do you reintroduce the plant?
> The original site is gone so where can any plant be placed where it
> will not out compete native flora or just fade away? Basically, these
> *reintroductions* programs seem to be missing this point or am I
> missing something here? I understand that there are 'studies' done
> but what can be learnt from these? Do these studies last for hundreds
> of years? In order to get good data on ecosystems like forests you
> need to take into account the life time of the residents and things like
> fire and succession (bogs/wetlands turning into forest and ?back?).
> There is way too much info we don't have. r
> And the info we have is *not* being put to use. When I visited the
> Okeefonokee (sp?) swamp in Georgia, we was a presentation about
> the park. During this we learnt that it is fire that maintains the
> praires (where S.minor grows very well) and that without fire, the
> sphagnum will fill the land and displace the water and only forest
> will remain, hence no more park. Of course, there have been no fires
> allowed in the park since it was started. So ineffect, the people
> who are in charge of maintaining the park are helping to end it.
>
> Dave Evans

As a matter of fact, controlled burns have been part of the
park's management strategy for several years.

Dick Wagner,
Atlanta