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bcbrown | 2 years ago

Absolutely, many trees have evolutionary countermeasures to fires. Some trees are very well-suited to colonized disturbed ground - they will opportunistically surge into an area after a wildfire, as either more of their seeds will germinate, or more seedlings will sprout into favorable conditions. Other trees have adaptations that make it more likely to survive wildfire; both sequoia and douglas-fir have layers of insulating bark up to a foot thick.

Some trees have adaptations to ensure that their seeds only spread after a wildfire; sequoia cones are sealed shut by a resin that only melts in the intense heat of a wildfire. Some species can even be thought of as having adaptations that encourage wildfires in order to out-compete species that are less wildfire-resistant; grasslands require wildfire on the shoulders of foothills, where otherwise trees would gradually creep down the slopes. The dry foliage at the end of summer provides ideal conditions for wildfires.

If you want to learn more about fire adaptation, an excellent entry point is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotiny.

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