Excitable media
Such oscillations may appear similar to those of a pendulum or of a clock, except that
- they would not exist in the absence of a fire
- they would not start unless the initial fire is big enough to make the forest burn.
- once a cycle is started by a fire, the forest comes back to its original state by itself.
Such a system is called excitable since
- it only responds to excitations of large enough size
- when there is a response, it is big (i.e. has dramatic or at least noticeable effects)
- the system eventually comes back to its resting state.