Fire in South African Mountain Fynbos

Ecologists are increasingly being drawn into the task of addressing problems of environmental degradation. They are expected to find solutions that will lead to sustainable resource use throughout the world. In doing so, the robustness of the science becomes increasingly important, and the problem of extrapolating the results of research conducted within what is usually a relatively limited geographical scope is increasingly highlighted. One approach to developing a globally robust ecology involves more or less formal intercontinental comparative studies, usually focused on the question of ecological convergence. These studies are directed at testing the prediction that similar physical and other environmental factors in different parts of the world, through their selective influences, will give rise to ecosystems which share com- mon structural and functional features. Should this be true, the predictive power of ecology developed within such a framework should be sufficient to solve similar problems elsewhere in such biomes. There is a long history of such an approach in mediterranean- type ecosystems, documented in a series of volumes and their accompanying scientific papers beginning with that of Di Castri and Mooney (1973).