Yesterday night, I could listen on the radio to the wonderful Singer of Couplets, Ana María Ramos; she is considered “The Queen of the Couplet”, in Spain.
In the interview, they talked about fires, because now, unfortunately, Spain is suffering a terrible summer of forest fires.Then, Olga said that, some years ago, she singed a song that talked about fires.This is the song; please click down here:
http://youtu.be/W3Tn0mc2cfE
That interview made me feel bad, thinking about many forest burning, many firefighters injured or even dead and so…many families suffering, the most of all cases are arson. Then, I was thinking about the idea of keeping forests clen; in this sense, I think that Government of Spain has the opportunity of hire to unemployed people, in order to clean forests.But, still more……they could plant cypress…..Yes, recently, it has been discovered that cypress tree resist fire; it has been discovered in Spain, after a fire in the East of Spain
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"Cypress trees saved in a burned forest", Jérica, among Valencia and Castellón, East of Spain.
When Bernabé Moya, director of the Tree of the County of Valencia, released the image, botanical colleagues rubbed their eyes. A legion of 946 cypress trees thirty feet high had survived unscathed the fire that hit last July for five days, 20.000 hectares of the Valencian town of Andilla. The picture clearly showed a column of 9.000 square meters of trees planted 22 years ago in Jerica, between Valencia and Castellon. All around, a lunar landscape, devastated, she barely remembered the vigorous mountain pine, oak, juniper, gorse bushes and consuming flames. Fire ignored the green plot. The mystery, and what it means, has returned to unleash the debate on forest regeneration. And in it, some experts are in favor of using cypress trees as natural firebreaks and others reject the planting of alien species into native habitat. The unique island of cypresses Andilla identical adverse conditions suffered their neighboring trees: a year of low rainfall and the deadly rule of three 30: more than 30 degrees, less than 30% humidity and winds over 30 mph. Why fire saved 90% of the cypresses? Why are these trees do not spread the flames?. There is no unanimity among scientists about the capacity of this plant to control or stop the fire. Mediterranean Cypress is a hard species, which accumulates few dead branches on the ground and having a layer of mulch (leaves) slim and compact that retains moisture. This would explain, according to the Department of Monumental Trees of the council, why the flames did not penetrate to the lower areas, although the ravine Herbasana was not cleaned in a decade. More remarkable is the behavior in the cups, as Moya. Although the specimens were together, the fire did not advance to the top. Burned only 12 trees (1.26% of total), which prevented the spread of fire. The flames also caused only dehydration of leaves in 10% of the cypresses. In a few months could regenerate. “The trees acted as a fire screen”, Says the botanist. “The titanic cypress resistance has encouraged the possibility of using this species as an ally to fight the flames. A tree to save another. It could be planted strategically between three and 15 lines of cypress trees to reinforce the firewall in remote areas”. Said Moya, who will consider the use of the species in the reforestation of Mount calcined in Andilla. The image of the green island of Jerica has surprised the experts. “ Know that cypress was used as a noise barrier and waterproof membrane to isolate, for example, a road, but did not know its resistance to fire. If so, you could try the tree as a screen for surrounding homes”, Suggests Rafael Serrada, vice president of the Society of Forestry. More skeptical shown his colleague Raul de la Calle, the College of Forestry Engineers: “We need to know what really happened. Cypress is a kind little fuel, but then to prevent burning. There is no tree fireproof”, Says this expert. The draft nor the cypresses Nicolas Lopez, botanical and technical Seo Conservation Birdlife. “ Enter a species is not native is a mistake, alter the ecosystem and harming the rest of the flora”, he says. Lopez added that the cypress also is a species that hinders the spread of fire but also hinders them from growing other trees and plants. “The horajasca of cypress shows a substance which acidifies the soil, similar to the eucalyptus, making it impossible to grow anything underneath, so that the fire has no fuel, and also prevents the tree to burn faster, because it also has a very dense crown”. However, Lee believes, as Serrada, the cypress they can have a good firewall implementation as on developments. “ You can put two rows of these trees would screen and even windbreaks”, abounds. The cypress trees were planted Andilla thanks CypFire European project, which has a budget of 1.3 million and is co-funded by European Union FEDER. The experiment aims to test the tolerance of trees to frost, drought and timber production and pollen. The fire resistance was initially a more. The initiative was developed in 13 research centers in nine countries including Italy, France, Portugal and Turkey. However, unlike these, fire is not razed areas of cypress and the ability of the species to survive the fire was known only by laboratory experiments. Valencia meet next on Sept. 27 about thirty international experts to address the enigma of non-combustible trees. On the table, a question: Why did not burn the cypress?.
Well, I think that this theme is so interesting; do not you think the same…..?.
Kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Costaluz Lawyers
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If you could not see my post tittled "A charming hotel in the South of Spain", now you have the opportunity of seeing it:
http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/luislopezcortijo/7488/a-charming-hotel-in-the-south-of-spain.aspx