Burton, Frederic J.

English

Biodiversity Informatics

104 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2006 BURTONFire on the reserve side of the wetlands.JOHN BINNSIguana 13.2 b&w text.QX6  6/26/06  1:19 PM  Page 104Mid-May brought an unexpected threat to the Bue IguanaRecovery Program (BIRP) in the form of a large-scalefire that started in a small agricultural plot and swept out ofcontrol into the Salina Reserve’s sedge wetlands. There, itburned fiercely along the southern margins of the swamp,fueled by green Cladium leaves, and then unexpectedly startedto spread east into the dry forest where Hurricane Ivan had leftlarge amounts of dead wood on the forest floor in 2004. Localfire services are not equipped to deal with blazes in remoteareas, and were initially inclined to let it burn, but when theflames worked around the east end of the Salina wetland andstarted to threaten the Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi) release site,action had to be taken. With considerable support from theDepartment of Environment (DOE), BIRP managed to getpermission for a helicopter to airlift staff and volunteers intothe fire zone. This brought the fire services on board, and ajoint team effectively tackled the blaze with a water bucketchain, shovels, and machetes. The main fire was doused quickly,and residual smoulderings were eventually extinguished using“water bombs” dropped from the government’s mosquito sprayplane. The Cayman Islands' dry forests are not a fire-adaptedecosystem, and it is rare for fires to spread so far beyond theman-made grasslands where this fire began. Ground-nestingbirds, terrestrial and epiphytic orchids, and small reptiles areamong the forest flora and fauna which are likely to have beenimpacted. In contrast, the sedge community around the mar-gins of the Salina wetland do burn once every few years, andthe critically endangered endemic wildflower Agalinis kingsiioften thrives in the year after a major burn. The Blue Iguanahabitat, fortunately, escaped all harm.Fire in the Salina Reserve, Grand CaymanFrederic J. BurtonBlue Iguana Recovery Program National Trust for the Cayman IslandsIGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2006 105FIRE IN THE SALINA RESERVEWest Indian Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arborea) in the aftermath.JOHN BINNSJOHN BINNSFred Burton, Blue Iguana Recovery Program, working toward the fire line to assess the situation.Iguana 13.2 b&w text.QX6  6/26/06  1:19 PM  Page 105106 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2006 BURTONRecent fire area aftermath.JOHN BINNSSmall hot spots often reignited in the heat of the day.JOHN BINNSMap of the Salina Reserve showing extent of the fire in relation to theBlue Iguana release site. 1 = Salina Blue release site; 2 = area burned; 3 = wetlands.Burned out area.JOHN BINNSIguana 13.2 b&w text.QX6  6/26/06  1:19 PM  Page 106IGUANA  •  VOLUME 13, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2006 107FIRE IN THE SALINA RESERVERecently released Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi) in the Salina Reserve.JOHN BINNSWENDY HODGEH O R N E D  L I Z A R D  W O R K I N GG R O U P  M E E T I N GThe next meeting of the Horned Lizard Working Groupwill be held September 15 - 17, 2006, on a privateRanch near Snyder, Texas. The meeting will include presen-tations about recent research, discussions of managementand research priorities, and a field trip. The meeting will beheld at the Windmill Ranch (http://www.windmillranchp-reserve.com/), which has accommodations for stayingovernight, presentations and food service. Additional accom-modations are available in Snyder, less than 10 miles away.We are currently working on the program for the meet-ing. If you would like to present or just participate, please con-tact Dr. Wendy Hodges (hodges_w@utpb.edu) or Dr. GadPerry (Gad.Perry@ttu.edu), as soon as possible. If you wouldlike to speak, please indicate so and provide a tentative title.Hope you can make it.Wendy Hodges Gad PerryUniversity of Texas – Permian Basin Texas Tech UniversityIguana 13.2 b&w text.QX6  6/26/06  1:19 PM  Page 107

Fire in the Salina Reserve, Grand Cayman

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https://journals.ku.edu/iguana/article/download/17599/15859

Fire in the Salina Reserve, Grand Cayman

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Biodiversity Informatics

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU