Brendon, I understand the concept, and if it were really the case that people were saying that fire suppression (whistling) was the primary trigger for the initiation of bark beetle outbreaks (tree death), then you might have a point. But no one says that, or at least it's not something that I've ever heard said or seen published among bark beetle specialists. And for that matter, the paper doesn't even report on whether there's a difference between the year without whistling (pre-fire-suppression) and the next. Based on their data sources, I doubt they had the statistical power to prove the negative. Drought stress is commonly considered to be a main trigger for regional conifer bark beetle outbreaks. But even when regional outbreaks are occurring, the susceptibility of a given stand to infestation is affected by that stand's structure and composition. Fire history is a factor that affects stand structure and composition. These points are well-supported in the literature for many systems. Back to your analogy, the idea that fire suppression could affect bark beetle susceptibility is not nearly as unlikely as the idea that whistling could affect tree death. There is a mechanistic connection. Also, these associations they're reporting are significant, but not absolute. For example, they find that 24% of the time that there was an AMO of at least 1.6, there was an outbreak in the study areas. Otherwise, when the AMO was This post was edited by saccharum on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 23:50

Whoa Josh!!! Gee, thanks for all the neat "links" you posted for me!! I was in reading last night for quite a length of time, & there is much info on alot of this stuff! Now, I'm not sure if Missouri's type of foliage & flowers are similar to ours here in Idaho, as I think they might "differ" a bit... mostly due to our Desert climate right in our area. The MOBOT Herbarium Instruction page was a "mind-blower," as it was some really in-depth reading, and I could go for hours on that one! Wow! I was really glad to hear you know what "Prickly-Pear" Cactus' are, because they grow wild here, by the "scads," and alot of folks use them in their rock gardens & such. When roaming or hiking in the mountains or Desert areas around here, you really have to watch where you're stepping, because of the large groups of them that grow everywhere! I've even seen them growing right out of the tops of lava rocks around here... with no soil!!! Too bad I can't figure out a way to get the beautiful blossoms off of them to "press & dry!" (... that would be a real fiasco` though, because of how sharp they are!) You had mentioned the "Yucca" Plant. That is one I am not very familiar with. I did try to grow some "Yucca" at one time out here, but as usual, I had no luck. It is just too dry on our Ranch here. I will have to ask around & see if folks grow any Yucca around here. I have not navigated around on the Site much here yet, since I have been a Member, so haven't went into the "Native forum" yet... but will do that. Thanks. You are right when you stated that right now, we should have a vast array of tiny flowers & things growing out in the Desert here on our Ranch. Always in the Spring time here in our area, everything of Nature is just loaded with many unusual Spring flowers & foliage. I am hoping to get out and pick some wild "Indian Paint Brush" to press & dry, that's for sure! This was something I wanted to do over the Easter week-end, but our weather was really stormy with alot of high gusts of Wind,... so I couldn't get out to do that. I am like you Josh... not only do I like to attempt to press & dry "flowers," but I also like the foliage... alot of it, & am always so interested in dried "leaves" and such. "Moss" fascinates me too!! I was reading on some of the previous "links" you gave to me on various plants, & it was telling how to "skeletonize" leaves & such... That was quite interesting to me! (maybe something I'll have to try sometime, but realize it's also difficult to do.) As far as me "trading" any plants from your area, I would be willing just to send you some of my Western "sage" foliage from out here... because that's all it is, is "leaves," but I would have to "press & dry" some first. Let me know what you think? Thank you for responding & Posting Josh.. it's always good to hear from you, & I will be in reading more of the info in the "links" you sent to me as well. Take care, & I will anticipate hearing from you again~ Warmest regards, ~ IndianPaintBrush ~

Do the spikes have the bright yelLow tips or the flowers on the spikes? Was the area wet or dry? I am assuming it was an alpine tundra area--no trees. I live in Colorado.

"landscape plants for western regions" by bob perry is expensive but extremely well-illustrated with great info on plants for med-type climates of california. "landscape plants for dry regions" by warren jones and charles sacamano has generally good pictures (some are surprisingly blurry) and lots of info including some on s.a. plants with an emphasis on plants that do well in great heat and drought (desert-type climates but also works well for med. type regions). there is a "mediterranean plant society with a presence on the web including resources for the med. garden (including s.a. stuff, i believe) and its own discussion board. silverhill seeds also has a book service which could be checked into. ortho books published "all about bulbs" a number of years ago and it had a surprisingly large selection of s.a. bulbs that it came good info on. the current edition of "the sunset western garden book" has lots of good info and it tries to focus on what is available in the trade so if you find it there there is at least a chance that you will really be able to find the plant somewhere you are reading about. "the looking-glass garden" (see the discussion on sunset garden zones for s.a. plants for the author's name) has discussions about suggested plant associations incorporating s.a. plants in a med. context.