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Redwoods 9-12
Coast Redwood
What’s the
Tallest Thing
You’ve Ever Seen?
How would it measure up to a coast redwood tree?
The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the
world’s tallest tree species and among the
oldest living things.
Mature coast redwood trees often reach more than
320 feet tall and many of the tallest known trees
are more than 360 feet high. Coast redwoods can
reach these heights because they are very resistant
to disease and insects. The wood has a high level
of tannic acid, which is toxic to most insects. These
fascinating trees are named for the beautiful red
color of their bark and heartwood.
Coast redwood forests are very rare and grow naturally only in a narrow 450-mile
strip along the Pacific Ocean from central California to southern Oregon. More
than tall trees, a redwood forest is a complex set of ecosystems made up of
an astounding variety of living and once-living things.
Although coast redwoods can grow from seeds, they more commonly reproduce
from sprouts. New trees can sprout from the roots of parent trees, from buds
at the base of a tree or from a fallen tree. If a tree is cut or burned, a circle of
trees may sprout from the stump, forming a “fairy ring” of new trees.
Coast
Redwood
Range
Where Have Redwood Fossils Been Found?
Redwood trees are true “living fossils.” As a genus, redwoods have existed
California seemingly unchanged for millions of years. Redwood fossils older than 144
million years have been found throughout the western United States and
Canada and along the coasts of Europe and Asia. Close ancestors of the
coast redwood were living when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Pacific Ocean
Coast redwoods prefer mild year-round temperatures with winter rain and
heavy fog, a climate that was more common in earlier ages. The last ice
age limited coast redwoods to their present range along the coast of northern
California and southwestern Oregon.
Photo: Phil Schermeister
How’s the Weather
Up There?
Imagine standing at the base of a coast redwood tree. If you
crane your neck and look up, you will just see the lowest branches
some 10 stories above you. If you peer even higher up, through It’s in the Genes
the distant branches and needles, you will hardly see the top of
the tree, which can be higher than a 37-story building. Just how Redwoods have more chromosomes than
can a coast redwood get so tall? most other cone-bearing trees, a fact that also
may help them grow tall. Chromosomes are
Trees continue to grow as long as they live — and coast redwoods the part of the cell that carries genes. Conifers
can live more than 2,000 years. However, age alone cannot usually have 20 to 24 chromosomes, but
fully explain the redwoods’ vast height because they are not the redwoods have 66 or more. That is because
oldest trees in the world. Some bristlecone pines in the White redwoods have six copies of each chromosome,
Mountains of California are more than 4,500 years old but while most conifers have two copies of each.
usually only grow to about 60 feet.
How does the number of chromosomes help
The coast redwoods’ environment plays a large part in why the redwoods grow? With six copies of each
they grow so tall. These trees live where the soil is very rich in chromosome, a single tree can have several
nutrients, where they are mostly protected from winds and where alternative forms of a gene. For example,
they receive lots of winter rain and summer fog. These conditions a tree may have two or even three different
allow them to thrive and grow to great heights. gene codes for an enzyme that helps the tree
fight a certain disease. This means that if a
Scientists now think that fog may be a critical reason for coast pest or disease tries to attack the tree, the
redwoods being so tall. Where the trees live, winters are very tree has a greater chance to protect itself. The
rainy, but there is very little rain the rest of the year. During healthier the tree, the more likely it is to grow.
the summer, however, a thick fog usually blankets the region.
Redwood trees are able to intercept this dense fog in their
crowns, where it condenses on their leaves.
The trees use this fog in a number of different ways. First, the
fog reduces the amount of water that the trees need because
they lose less water through their leaves when it is foggy. Second,
the trees can absorb the fog directly through the leaves, which is
an especially important source of water for young trees. Finally,
the condensed fog drips to the ground below the trees, where it
soaks in for later use.
With summer fog and winter rain, redwoods have water all year-
round — this may be the most important reason for their great
height.
uskin K. Hartley
to: R
P ho
Is the Spice of a Forest’s Life
Variety
e i st e r
Many people think a forest is just a bunch of trees that all look alike.
But a healthy forest is really about variety. An ancient coast redwood
forest has a mixture of different trees and shrubs that are many different
ages and sizes. This allows for a range of different animals and plants
to live in the forest. The greater the variety, the more diversity — and a
healthy community depends on diversity.
Many other tree species can live among the redwoods. Examples
of these are Douglas-firs, western hemlocks, grand firs, Sitka
spruces, tanoaks, madrones, maples and California bays.
g
to : U S F W S
(terraserver.com and Google Earth are
possible free sources) and use grid
paper to estimate the percentage of
Pho
each area that is covered by trees.
How do the areas compare? What does
your community do to maintain its
“urban forest”?
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