How do fires help chaparral biomes?

Fires help the Chaparral by "refreshing" the vegetation that grows there. Some plants can only grow and germinate when a fire occurs. They are called "fire anuuals." An example is the herbaceous species.

The Chaparral vegetation(ex. shrubs) have 4 different strategies to survive a fire:

1. Obligate resprouters. These plants survive fires by resprouting only e.g. Toyon and Scrub Oak.

2. Obligate seeders. The adult plants die in the fire. Seeds receive a fire cue and then germinate e.g. Ceanothus.

3. Fire followers. These annual plants require some fire cue for germination..

4. Facultative seeders: The adult plant resprounts and a fire cue enhances seed germination.