system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do forests stop at a certain point?

I feel like a lot of the forests I see around me (pine forests in western US) have a line where they just end and lead into a open field with almost no trees even though the environment is the seemingly the same. Is there a reason the trees just stop growing at certain point?
gpt
> Is there a reason the trees just stop growing at certain point?

Yes, it's called farming.  As Europeans swept westward, they were given land if they were willing to clear it of trees and farm it.  The logging industry has also taken down a huge share of the forests.  Even the indigenous peoples  cleared land for growing crops, harvesting wood, and for other purposes. Over the centuries, much of the original forest covering the land has been chopped or burned down.  Any forest you see is actually either replanted or abandoned land that has reverted to forest.