Imagine walking through a forest right after a wildfire. The trees are burnt, the ground is covered in ash, and almost everything that made the forest feel alive seems to be gone. Looking at it, you might assume that whatever grows next has to start completely from scratch(Johnstone et al., 2016). Surprisingly, that is not really what happens. Even after a major disturbance, pieces of the old forest can stick around and influence what comes next. Ecologists actually have a term for this: ecological memory (Johnstone et al. 2016). Obviously, forests do not have brains, so what exactly are they “remembering”?
Instead of memories being stored in neurons, a forest’s past can be stored in things like surviving plants, roots, nutrients, and even seeds hiding underground. These are known as material legacies Johnstone et al. (2016). There are also information legacies, which include traits that have helped species survive disturbances in the past Johnstone et al. (2016). For example, some trees have cones that can protect seeds and release them after a fire. The tree could never actually recall what happened during a previous fire, “I remember what happened last time.” But the traits left behind from generations of dealing with fire can affect how the forest responds today.
One particularly interesting aspect is what can be found beneath our feet. Reed et al. (2025) studied how fire, gaps in the forest canopy, and deer affected a forest seed bank. Thirteen years after the experiment began, the different disturbances were still linked to differences in the seeds found underground Reed et al. (2025). More surprisingly, what researchers found in the seed bank did not completely match the plants they could see growing above ground (Reed et al. 2025). Basically, you could look at a forest and still be missing part of its history because some of it is buried in the soil.
As Figure 1 shows, the seeds left underground looked very different depending on what that part of the forest had experienced, showing how a disturbance can leave a biological trace years later.
Figure 1. Seed abundance and plant types found in forest seed banks after different combinations of fire, canopy gaps, and deer exposure (Reed et al. 2025).
But there is a catch. Remembering the past is only helpful when the future is somewhat similar. Climate change is altering things like the frequency and severity of forest disturbances, meaning forests can experience conditions that are very different from what they experienced historically (Johnstone et al. 2016). If a fire becomes intense enough to destroy the seeds, organisms, or soil conditions that normally help a forest recover, some of that ecological “memory” can disappear with it.
So, can a forest actually remember? Not in the way we can. But a forest is not starting with a blank page every time it is disturbed either. Its past can remain buried in its soil, written into the traits of its species, and carried by whatever survives. And with environments changing so quickly, maybe the bigger question is: what happens when a forest remembers a world that no longer exists?
References
Johnstone, Jill F., et al. 2016. “Changing Disturbance Regimes, Ecological Memory, and Forest Resilience.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14 (7): 369–378.
Reed, Samuel P., et al. 2025. “Multiple Disturbances, Multiple Legacies: Fire, Canopy Gaps and Deer Jointly Change the Forest Seed Bank.” Journal of Ecology 113: 353–370.
Seidl, Rupert, et al. 2017. “Forest Disturbances under Climate Change.” Nature Climate Change 7: 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3303
Comments
11 Responses to “Can A Forest Remember? How the Past Shapes What Grows Back”
Hi Isci, I chose this topic because biodiversity is something we’ve been exploring recently, and I wanted to look further into why it is important and how it can be affected by different factors. I was especially interested in connecting what we’ve learned to real-world ecosystem
and environmental changes.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
– Nastaho Mohamed
Hi Nastaho,
This is a very cool topic, and I like the way you started the blog with a hook to captivate the readers! Some suggestions I have for you are:
– In the last phrase where you say: “what happens when a forest remembers a world that no longer exist”, add a question mark at the end instead of a period. Moreover, you should replace the word “exist” with “exists.”
– Bold the References and Figure title sections
– To make the blog a bit more formal, I’d rewrite the phrase: “The tree is definitely not thinking…” into something like “The tree could never recall…”
Overall, great work, and I’m looking forward to reading your final draft!
– Swetha S
Hi Swetha!
Thank you for your feedback! I fixed the grammatical error and punctuation in my concluding question, and I also adjusted the formatting of my references and figure caption. I reworded the sentence about the tree thinking to make it more formal while keeping the original meaning. I appreciate you pointing out these details!
Hi Nastaho,
What a wonderfully written blog post! I absolutely love the rhetorical question in the title as it really captured my attention. I have a few suggestions for you to consider:
– I recommend including the sentence “Obviously, forests do not have brains, so what exactly are they “remembering”?” in your introduction paragraph. A one-sentence paragraph is not commonly seen in academic writing.
– If you include a figure, you must reference it in the text before the figure is seen. Therefore, move your “As Figure 1 shows…” paragraph above the figure.
– On the topic of figures, yours is slightly blurry. I recommend taking a screenshot instead of copy-pasting directly from the article (this works best for me). Also, figure captions are normally in italics.
– Overall, I would try to find more sources to strengthen your argument. That being said, the sources you do have are very strong and come from reputable journals (Sci Lit would be happy!)
I really enjoyed reading your post! Now, if you were to ask me the question “can forests remember?” I would response yes, they can 🙂
Happy editing,
Chloe
Hi Chloe!
Thank you so much for your suggestions! I moved the question about forests remembering into my introduction so the paragraph flows better. I also moved the explanation of Figure 1 above the graph, adjusted the caption formatting, and worked on improving the image quality. I added another scientific source to strengthen my discussion of climate change. Thanks again for the helpful feedback!
Hey Nastaho!
Your choice of topic was so interesting! I really enjoyed reading your blog post, it definitely taught me something new. Some suggestions I have are:
– I would recommend using more complex transitional words at the beginning of your sentences. Words such as “however” and “additionally” could help enhance the flow of your writing.
– In p4, two consecutive sentences start with “even,” which can feel a little repetitive. I’d recommend changing one of them to a synonym or rephrasing the sentence to make the paragraph flow more smoothly.
Overall great blog post! Have fun editing. 🙂
– Zahra Imthiyas
Hi Zahra!
Thank you for your feedback! I went back through my blog and adjusted some of the transitions to make the writing flow more smoothly. I also noticed the repetition of “even” that you mentioned, so I reworded those sentences to avoid starting them the same way. I appreciate your suggestions!
Hi Nastaho,
This is such a good blog post. I think this is a really cool topic that you chose. I just have a couple of suggestions for you.
1. This sentence “Looking at it, you might assume that whatever grows next has to start completely from scratch” needs to be cited.
2. I think this sentence “Obviously, forests do not have brains, so what exactly are they “remembering”?” should be in the paragraph above.
3. This sentence “Instead of memories being stored in neurons, a forest’s past can be stored in things like surviving plants, roots, nutrients, and even seeds hiding underground. Johnstone et al. (2016) describe some of these as material legacies.” I would put the citation at the end in brackets not in the middle of the sentence.
4. This sentence, “There are also information legacies, which include traits that have helped species survive disturbances in the past,” needs to be cited.
5. This sentence, “Even 13 years after the experiment began, the different disturbances were still linked to differences in the seeds found underground. I wouldn’t bold the text. It also needs to be cited.
6. Lastly, for your figure, I would make sure to cite your figure in your writing before the figure appears in the text. So I would move the figure down one paragraph so it is cited before it is shown.
Overall great work!
Happy Editing!
-Abbie
Hi Abbie!
Thank you for taking the time to give such detailed feedback! I went through the sentences you pointed out and added the missing citations, including the information about the seed bank experiment. I also moved the question about forests remembering into my introduction and adjusted the placement of Figure 1 so it is mentioned before appearing. Your suggestions were really helpful in making sure my evidence was properly referenced!
Hi Natasho,
This was a super interesting blog post! I have never heard of trees being able to remember before, so I definitely learned something new! A few suggestions I have for you are the following:
– Make sure to crop your figure so you don’t have those black lines on the edges & try to find a less blurry version if possible.
– Try to rework your sentence describing your figure either into the figure caption or before the figure, either way ensure you are referencing the figure before it appears in the text.
– Try not to give your direct opinion. In P4, you say “The part I found most interesting, though, …”. Try and reword this to something like “One particularly interesting aspect is what can be found beneath our feet.” as this fits better in academic writing.
Overall, this was a great blog post – I look forward to reading the final edits!!
– Audrey
Hi Audrey!
Thank you for your suggestions! I reworded the sentence about what I found most interesting to make it more objective and appropriate for scientific writing. I also moved my explanation of Figure 1 above the graph and worked on making the image clearer by removing the unnecessary borders. I appreciate you pointing out these improvements!