Re:The Regenerating Power of Big Basin’s Redwoods
by soperj on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @11:56AM
(#35977159)
Redwoods are serotinous. They literally depend on fire to propagate. Fire suppression is actually one of the main threats to the species.
Re:The Regenerating Power of Big Basin’s Redwoods
by imagainstit on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @12:53PM
(#35978045)
Coast redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) are not serotinous. Giant sequoia (sequoiadendron giganteum) are, but that's not what's in Big Basin.
Coast redwoods propagate by stump sprouting and seeds which don't require fire. Fire is important in their ecosystem for clearing out fuel but is not at all required for reproduction.
https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/California_forests/http___u...
I spent what seemed like a "brief" gap year from college working for a startup in the Bay Area and spent all of my weekends hiking / camping. In 2016/2017 there was a huge rain season that caused washouts but I was dumb enough to drive all the way over the foothills to Big Basin. It was probably unwise but I'd never seen a forest explode with life like that before.
I was into hiking before, but my time in Big Basin was a low-key religious experience. It was the first time I truly looked at a beautiful forest and thought to myself "why on earth would you cut all of this down to build ugly tract homes?"