Clarifying the role of fire in the deciduous forests of eastern North America: reply to Matlack.

Michael C. Stambaugh,∗ ¶ J. Morgan Varner,† Reed F. Noss,‡ Daniel C. Dey,§ Norman L. Christensen,∗∗ Robert F. Baldwin,†† Richard P. Guyette,∗ Brice B. Hanberry,∗ Craig A. Harper,‡‡ Sam G. Lindblom,§§ and Thomas A. Waldrop∗∗∗ ∗Department of Forestry, University of Missouri, 203 ABNR Building, Columbia, MO 65211, U.S.A. †Department of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 324 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, U.S.A. ‡Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, U.S.A. §U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Research Station, University of Missouri, 202 ABNR Building, Columbia, MO 65211, U.S.A. ∗∗Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90329, Durham, NC 27708, U.S.A. ††Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, 221 Lehotsky Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, U.S.A. ‡‡Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, University of Tennessee, 280 Ellington Plant Sciences, Knoxville, TN 37996, U.S.A. §§The Nature Conservancy, Virginia Chapter, 490 Westfield Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901, U.S.A. ∗∗∗U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Southern Research Station, Clemson University, 233 Lehotsky Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, U.S.A.