After the Fire: How a Forest Grows Back

After the Fire: How a Forest Grows Back

1A wildfire can sweep through a forest in just a few days. Afterward, the land looks gray and empty. Tree trunks stand black and bare, and ash covers the ground. It may seem as if nothing could ever live there again. But in many forests, new life begins to appear surprisingly soon.

2One reason is sunlight. Before the fire, tall trees formed a thick roof of branches and leaves that shaded the forest floor. The fire burned away much of that roof. Now sunlight can reach the ground, and seeds that were waiting in the soil begin to sprout.

3The ash helps too. When plants and wood burn, they leave behind ash that contains minerals. Rain washes these minerals into the soil, where they work a little like plant food. Many young plants grow quickly in this soil. Fireweed, a wildflower with bright pink blossoms, is often one of the first plants to return. It can turn a burned hillside pink within a year or two.

4Some trees even need fire to spread their seeds. The lodgepole pine grows many cones that are sealed shut with a sticky resin. These cones can hang on a tree for years without opening. The heat of a fire melts the resin, and the cones open and drop their seeds onto the sunny, ash-covered ground. Because of this, young lodgepole pines often spring up soon after a fire.

5As plants return, animals follow. Insects come to eat the new leaves and flowers, and birds come to eat the insects. Woodpeckers search the dead trunks for beetles. Deer graze on the fresh green shoots. Year by year, shrubs and young trees grow taller, and the forest slowly fills in.

6Firefighters still work hard to keep people and homes safe from wildfires. But scientists have learned that fire is also a natural part of life in many forests.