General Coniferous Adaptations. The pyramid shape of the tree tops makes it easy for the trees to shed snow instead of the branches breaking under the weight. The year round green color of the needles indicates how they are able to photosynthesize year round at peak temperatures. It is also helpful to save on energy by not having to re-grow needles every year. Jack pine have cones that remain closed until heated by fire.
Fire softens resins and the scales of the cone elevate releasing seeds.
The seeds fall into an area that is open with little shade and with high concentration of nutrients in the ash released from the burning of the mature forest. A fungus that grows into the root and then out of it and away from it greatly increasing the surface area of the roots. It is a symbiotic relationship exchanging the minerals that the fungus absorbs from the soil for carbohydrates that the tree produces. Because most boreal forest soils are shallow and poor in nutrients, except after burns, the mycorrhizae are every important. Low nutrient content of the soil is also promoted by low decay rates in cool soils.