Fire in North American Wetland Ecosystems and Fire-Wildlife Relations: An Annotated Bibliography

32. Buell, M. F., and R. L. Cain. 1943. The successional role of southern white 
         cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides in southeastern North Carolina. Ecology 
         24:85-93.

Atlantic white-cedar in southeastern North Carolina is a pioneer forest community on open peat soils. Its dependence upon open soils in an area normally heavily vegetated makes the species dependent upon fire, the only natural clearing agent. This fire must occur at times of high water, however, or the Atlantic white-cedar seedbed is also burned. The mature Atlantic white-cedar forest is extremely susceptible to fire. If protected entirely from fire, Atlantic white-cedar will not persist, but will give way to the bog climax, a broadleaf forest of evergreen hardwoods. [From authors' abstract]

Back to Author Index
Back to Subject Index