Tropical swamp turned into wasteland

[SpookCrow]

I don't mind the tropical swamp being chocked with trees and what not but the fires and flash storms makes it dangerous to live in. Half the map consisted of burned trees since the rain took like 5 hours to come. Rain doesn't even come often. I seem to get hit with more diseases than rain, I thought I was in a tropical swamp...

[Canute]

What did you await ?
Tropical swamp is an extreme biome like Ice sheet or extreme desert.
But you encounter other problems then at the other biomes.

And since you got good growthing temp. the tree's will grow back very soon.
Maybe you should start to build flagstone roads around your map to seperate tree area. That will stop big fires going around the map.

[Klitri]

Hmm... Wildfires ... Disease ... Low amounts of rain water falling from the sky. Yep, that's actually exactly what a tropical swamp is like. Quit whining.

[Bozobub]

If it's a swamp, it's NOT going to be even remotely dry; they are wetlands, by definition.  Even in a temperate swamp, rainfall will generally average from 69-79" (1750-2000mm) of rain a year, as well, just barely below the definition of "temperate rainforest".  Yes, scarce rain and/or rampant wildfires makes little sense in a swamp biome of ANY sort.

Once again, swamps are wetlands.  Wetlands don't happen without the "wet" part, that simple.

https://a-z-animals.com/reference/swamps-and-wetland/ <- Tropical swamps are actually rather rare, by the by.

Interesting, isn't it, how snark doesn't replace analysis in any way?  Funny, that; gosh!

[Dashthechinchilla]

Wetlands can be created by poor drainage of local water sources. They don't require rain at all, they can be fed by springs. There are wetlands in the Mohave desert.

[Bozobub]

"Wetlands" are WET.  Go on, try to start a fire in the Okefenokee, even if it hasn't rained for a week.  Have fun!

If it's a swamp it IS wet.  Period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp

[Dashthechinchilla]

Right, they are wet. However they are still subject to dry periods of no rain and huge fires. Fire is what they use to clear huge areas of the Brazilian rainforest. It wouldn't be a effective method if rain came along every two days and put it out.

[SpaceDorf]

Right, they are wet. However they are still subject to dry periods of no rain and huge fires. Fire is what they use to clear huge areas of the Brazilian rainforest.

I think you are mixing up rainforests and wetlands and marshes.

For all the rain and growth there is a rainforest has usually a pretty dry flooring with low nutrients. The Ash from the burned down shrubbery is used to fertilize the ground which is usually provided by rotting fruit, plants and animals and instantly absorbed.

Fire works well in this environment because the big trees are mostly immune to the fire and roof over large areas, even in rain.

Swamps and bogs on the other hand have a wet ground, with the allready mentioned bad drainage. Everything there is wet through and through and the big watery parts of the ground itself keep fires from spreading. Without the need of rain.

Or did you ever hear of the great fire that burned down the Everglades or the scottisch bogfires ?

[Bozobub]

Furthermore, "swamp" has a specific definition and usage, and I've given explanations of both.  A "temporary wetland" simply is NOT a swamp.

[Dashthechinchilla]

In 2008, 33k acres (135km square) of the Everglades burned. Every dry season they get a fire that burns several hundred acres. Fires like that are part of the normal cycle.

The marsh areas of the bogs in the game behave the way you describe, totally untouched by the fire that burns the dry land around them. You wouldn't be able to build a colony on land that was a complete marsh all the time.