I was watching a war movie when there was a scene where the enemy walks out of the tree line and into the field for a battle. This got me thinking.
What causes there to be natural groupings of trees like forests and natural areas with relatively nothing like meadows? What is the natural cause for a relatively straight tree line that leads to a wide clearing?
In: Biology
Natural tree lines and open areas are rarely straight, and they happen for a variety of reasons. The default for an area is usually forest, but trees won’t grow well if there’s to much water in the soil (swampy meadows), natural fires are too frequent (grasslands/prairies), no soil to anchor the roots (rocky outcrops), not a long enough growing season (arctic and alpine tree lines) and a bunch more. Most trees have a dependent relationship with soil fungus too, so if the soil isn’t healthy enough to support the fungus, the trees won’t do well either. There’s always exceptions though.
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