After a wildfire has run across a landscape, it often appears as if the flames have destroyed all vegetation. However, many of our native trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses have some mechanism of coping with fire. Some will grow new leaves or needles; others will re-sprout from their roots, while others have fire resistant seeds that will sprout following a fire.

Much of the response will depend on the intensity and duration of the fire -- fast moving fires versus slow moving heavy wooded fires.

A secondary wildfire effect results from blackened surfaces absorbing more of the sun’s energy. This causes severe increases of soil surface temperatures and plant stems, and may kill plants that had survived the initial fire.