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There was a time before our ancestors smashed flint and steel together,
很久以前，我們的祖先還未將燧石和鐵器互擊，
when they felt the cold lack of fire in their lives.
他們因生活缺乏火而時(shí)感寒冷。
But anthropologists theorize that early hominids relied on lightning to cause forest fires,
但人類學(xué)家推論原始人類依賴閃電引發(fā)森林大火，
from which they could collect coals and burning sticks.
由此他們能收集木炭和燃燒的樹枝。
Fire gave them the ability to cook food and clear land, and became central in many rituals and traditions.
火讓他們能夠煮食和清理土地，并成為很多儀式和傳統(tǒng)的中心。
So instead of seeing forest fires as an exclusively bad thing, ancient humans may have learned to appreciate them.
所以古代人類并不完全視森林大火為壞事，且可能已知道要感謝它們。
Yet, it wasn't just humans who benefitted from these natural phenomena.
但并不只是人類受益于這種自然現(xiàn)象。
Even as they destroy trees, fires also help the forest themselves, however counterintuitive that seems.
即使大火燒毀樹木，但同時(shí)也幫助森林本身這看來悖于常理。
In fact, several forest species, such as select conifers, need fire to survive.
事實(shí)上，許多森林樹種，如高等的針葉樹都需要火來生存。
But how can fire possibly create life in addition to destroying it?
但火如何既毀滅生命，又創(chuàng)造生命？
The answer lies in the way that certain forests grow.
答案在于這些森林的成長方式。
In the conifer-rich forests of western North America, lodgepole pines constantly seek the Sun.
在北美洲西部的針葉樹林，美國黑松總設(shè)法尋求陽光。
Their seeds prefer to grow on open sunny ground,
它們的種子偏好生長于空曠多陽的土地，
which pits saplings against each other as each tries to get more light by growing straighter and faster than its neighbors.
幼樹互相競(jìng)爭(zhēng)試圖掙得更多陽光，要比旁邊的樹生長得更筆直、更迅速。
Over time, generations of slender, lofty lodgepoles form an umbrella-like canopy that shades the forest floor below.
經(jīng)年累月，一代代細(xì)長高聳的美國黑松形成傘狀樹冠，遮蔽下面的“地面層”。
