From Seed to Seed:
Plant Science for K-8 Educators

 

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    Fire

Not strictly a method of dispersal, fire nonetheless plays an important role in the life cycles of some species. Historically, wildfires traveled through large tracts of forest, thinning out trees and creating sunlit clearings and open ground, two factors that are important for the germination of some types of seeds. Interestingly, some trees, including lodgepole pine and jack pine, actually depend on fire to complete their life cycles. As a fire travels through thick stands of mature pines, it reduces the huge trees to a thick layer of nutrient-rich ash covering the soil. These trees' cones require the heat from the fire to open up and release their seeds onto this newly fertilized soil.
 

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