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| Fire and the Prairie | |||||||||||||||||
| The Source of Fire | |||||||||||||||||
| While lightning is thought to have been a
major source of historical prairie fires in parts of the arid US and
western Canada, it probably wasn't the major fire source in the humid
lower Great Lakes region. The types of convection storms where lightning
occurs usually take place from June to August, a time when the prairie
vegetation in the Great Lakes region is too green to burn
well. Most convection storms bring rain so fire isn't likely to persist
for very long.
The most likely source of fire on southern Ontario's pre-settlement landscape was Native people. They would start fires to drive game, remove brush to facilitate travel, increase yields of seeds and berries, clear land for agriculture or village establishment, and as a method of offence or defence in battle.Aboriginal peoples also used relatively large amounts of wood for cooking and heating and this woodland clearing created conditions favourable for the growth of fire-dependent grasses and flowers. |
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Tallgrass Ontario |
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Tel: (519)873-4631 |