Smoke signals: How burning plants tell seeds to rise from the ashes
Monday, April 29, 2013 - 20:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
In the spring following a forest fire, trees that survived the blaze explode in new growth and plants sprout in abundance from the scorched earth. For centuries, it was a mystery how seeds, some long dormant in the soil, knew to push through the ashes to regenerate the burned forest.