LIGHTNING CAPITAL Central Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. Dry winter weather, followed by summer storms, creates ideal fire conditions. Fires, ignited by lightning, once burned across vast areas, stopped only by rainfall or natural barriers, such as lakes. Wildfires no longer burn across the landscape because of fragmented habitat and are suppressed because of the danger to human life and property. Instead, prescribed burns, conducted by trained land managers, simulate the natural fire cycles that once prevailed and maintained the diversity of native species. Many plants and animals depend on fire to thrive. One of the ways that plants have adapted to fire is by having massive underground root systems. The modest above-ground portions of the plants regenerate rapidly following a fire. For other plants, fire stimulates seed germination and flowering. Large animals flee on foot and small animals often escape into a nearby gopher tortoise burrow.