Habitat Destruction in Mexico

Stelenes at aol.com Stelenes at aol.com
Wed May 17 15:36:29 EDT 2000


In a message dated 5/17/00 12:05:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
cherubini at mindspring.com writes:

>  Chris J. Durden wrote:
>  
>  > Fantastic image of Sinaloa and parts of adjacent states! A sorry sight.
>  
>  Does anyone here remember learning in their college Plant Ecology classes 
> that 
>  prior to the arrival of european man, most of western North America burned 
>  roughly every 7-10 years?
>  
>  Paul Cherubini, Placerville, Calif.

Paul is right.  Yesterday I was out botanizing a spot rich in lilies and 
orchids here near Sacramento CA.  It had burnt a year earlier.  It had the 
best diversity in general for wildflowers in my area I've seen.  If people 
didn't have transportation to get out of the way of the fires perhaps a 
better balance would be established.  And after the fires, without our native 
trees for starters, the alien invasive plant species can have a 'field' day.  
Luckily not too much it the spot of yesterday.

In Monterrey, Northern Mexico, about 2 years ago, a good % of the pine-oak 
mountain forests were set on fire probably for political motives.  It was an 
environmental catastrophe which rained ashes all over my home for days.  
Mexico actually asked the US for help (proof of severity).  The recovery 
there is far more questionable, it is an increasilgly so uncommon habitat.  
Sprawl is terrible, smog getting worse, the root cause, and zoning laws are 
not as strict as most places.  As a matter of fact the area is getting to 
look like a brand new US more and more every day.

Doug Dawn
Woodland CA


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