Yesterday I finally got to visit several groves of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park, including the Rockefeller grove, which is hidden from the general public and not on the map...
There were so many interesting things to learn about these long lived trees, that can reach 3000 years of age, ( although the oldest in the Merced Grove were around 1500).
The two that stuck with me were;
Sequoias are an Ancient Species that flourished across all of North America 2500 Million Years ago, when everything was big, like, for instance, Insects with 2 ft wingspans. And Dinosaurs. Now they are so rare that in a full day of directed searching in a massive forest with guidance from experts, I could only count 48 of the giant individuals forced into a tight ecotone on the side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The require forest fires to propagate their seeds. Every 10 to 20 years will do.
To me this brings to mind a dramatic image of Earths Natural History much less tranquil and stable than we sometimes believe, and the harsh justice of climate change on those unable to adapt.
The two that stuck with me were;
Sequoias are an Ancient Species that flourished across all of North America 2500 Million Years ago, when everything was big, like, for instance, Insects with 2 ft wingspans. And Dinosaurs. Now they are so rare that in a full day of directed searching in a massive forest with guidance from experts, I could only count 48 of the giant individuals forced into a tight ecotone on the side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The require forest fires to propagate their seeds. Every 10 to 20 years will do.
To me this brings to mind a dramatic image of Earths Natural History much less tranquil and stable than we sometimes believe, and the harsh justice of climate change on those unable to adapt.
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