From the Introduction: 'Pocosins or evergreen shrub bogs represent perhaps the least studied and least understood vegetation type on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Their limited economic value, impenetrable character, and alleged dense populations of venomous or otherwise malevolent critters have successfully repelled ecologists for the past 50 years. Added to this is a considerable measure of confusion over the features which unify this ecosystem type, the factors which limit its productivity and diversity, the impact of natural and man-caused disturbance within it, and its successional status relative to other coastal plain ecosystems.' From the text: 'Fire should be viewed as a highly cyclical phenomenon in pocosins and its frequency and intensity are largely governed by changes inherent in the development of the vegetation (Christensen, 1980). As the pocosin regenerates following a fire, the amount of dry dead fuel increases as does the likelihood that the posocin will carry a fire. In such situations fire seems almost inevitable and the absence of fire may represent more of a disturbance than even the most intense inferno. A point should be made regarding the relative impacts of prescribed fire versus wildfire. Prescribed fires are likely to be set when they can be most easily controlled, wheras the opposite is true of wildfires. Thus prescribed fires rarely burn deeply into the peat. In areas where burning is intended simply to create a fuel (such as in the Coatan National Forest), this fact is of little concern. But if fire is being prescribed to facilitate regeneration from seed or to preserve natural diversity (as in natural preserves), it may be a poor replacement for wildfire.'