The Role of Fire in Ecosystems Fire is an essential component of many ecosystems. Over the millennia, plants and animals in these ecosystems have adapted to periodic fire, and indeed some have become dependant upon burning. Lodgepole pine cones are held closed with a resin.
Fire melts the resin and allows the cone to open and release seeds.
A fire will kill the fungus, but the grassy tufts protect the seedling buds and allow it to start growing several feet a year. Fires in a natural regime generally burn quickly through underbrush or grass and shrubs. Thus the fires do not burn with great heat or intensity. Established plants and soil are not usually adversely affected, and those species dependant upon fire retain their natural cycles. On the other hand, fire suppression in ecosystems adapted to its frequent occurrence have a high fuel density.