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| Fire |
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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 important for the germination of some types of seed. 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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