Author: Evan Nicole Brown / Source: Atlas Obscura
Late last year, California was ravaged by deadly wildfires. Upstate, the Camp Fire destroyed an estimated 18,804 buildings and incinerated the town of Paradise in particular.
Down the coast, the Woolsey Fire burned 96,949 acres of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. It could take some areas years to recover, and others may never recover at all. It’s not exactly a silver lining, but some experts think that the extensive burning could result in a spring profusion of wildflowers, known as a “superbloom,” in Southern California.A superbloom is an exceptionally productive season of wildflowers, and they generally occur as a result of an environmental one-two punch: intense fire followed by consistent rain. The fire primes seed banks in the soil, which are then nourished by rain, resulting in blooms in dozens of wildflower species.
Mark Mendelsohn, a biologist with the National Park Service in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, works in the field and was…
The post Last Year’s Severe Wildfires May Intensify a Spring Wildflower ‘Superbloom’ appeared first on FeedBox.