Check out pyrophytes. Or in general fire ecology, which is quite fascinating. Conifers are common culprits. Sequoia’s are a well known example of a plant that pretty much require a fire for their seeds—the cones are thick and often covered in an additional layer for protection, which require high temperatures for them to crack and let the seeds fall out. A lot of plants in Australia, California etc, (i.e. places where you’d expect common fires) tend to have various fire protections or enhancements. Though you can also get them in other places—Scots pine (Pinus Sylvestris) is a temperate species that isn’t very competitive (gymnosperms are generally less well off than angiosperms and tend to live in less hospitable places), but has:
a tall trunk with branches high up
a very thick lower bark
fine, flaky bark on the upper portions
pine cones that open when the weather is nice (i.e. hot and dry)
very light, wind dispersed seeds
a tendency to be a pioneer species (i.e. grows on open dirt, after disruptions like fires)
All of the above are useful in the case of a fire—temperate forest fires tend to be in the understory (at least in naturalish European ones, which I’m most familiar with), so the insides and upper branches are protected. At the same time, flakes of bark, thinner than most paper, break off, catch fire and are blown over to light other stuff on fire. The heat opens the cones and disperses the seeds, which can sprout on a nicely cleared area, freshly fertilized with lovely wood ash.
The point about forest fires is that they were rare enough before humans that they probably didn’t apply much selection pressure.
Some (most?) conifers have seed cones that can survive fires and reforest burned areas, but their seedlings don’t grow as quickly as bamboo.
Were there really no forest fires before humans? Aren’t there species of plant whose seeds depend on fire?
You mean seeds that can only work if there’s fire? If you have any example in mind, I’m very interested.
Check out pyrophytes. Or in general fire ecology, which is quite fascinating. Conifers are common culprits. Sequoia’s are a well known example of a plant that pretty much require a fire for their seeds—the cones are thick and often covered in an additional layer for protection, which require high temperatures for them to crack and let the seeds fall out. A lot of plants in Australia, California etc, (i.e. places where you’d expect common fires) tend to have various fire protections or enhancements. Though you can also get them in other places—Scots pine (Pinus Sylvestris) is a temperate species that isn’t very competitive (gymnosperms are generally less well off than angiosperms and tend to live in less hospitable places), but has:
a tall trunk with branches high up
a very thick lower bark
fine, flaky bark on the upper portions
pine cones that open when the weather is nice (i.e. hot and dry)
very light, wind dispersed seeds
a tendency to be a pioneer species (i.e. grows on open dirt, after disruptions like fires)
All of the above are useful in the case of a fire—temperate forest fires tend to be in the understory (at least in naturalish European ones, which I’m most familiar with), so the insides and upper branches are protected. At the same time, flakes of bark, thinner than most paper, break off, catch fire and are blown over to light other stuff on fire. The heat opens the cones and disperses the seeds, which can sprout on a nicely cleared area, freshly fertilized with lovely wood ash.
Below is what the flaky stuff looks like
I’m only seeing this now, thanks for all the info!
The point about forest fires is that they were rare enough before humans that they probably didn’t apply much selection pressure. Some (most?) conifers have seed cones that can survive fires and reforest burned areas, but their seedlings don’t grow as quickly as bamboo.