The California Redwood continues to amaze
The California Redwood continues to amaze
Like Faulkner's view of humanity, these amazing trees endure and prevail.
In August 2020, the majestic redwoods of California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park faced adversity in the form of lighting. A few nearby lightning strikes sparked a series of fires which, despite the fact that these trees are notoriously hard to burn, incinerated the needles and then spread to some of these towering 100-meter-tall trees.
BUT, since then there's been a good twist to the story.
Against all odds, many of these trees have persevered. Burned trees recovered through resprouting from roots, trunk and branches, necessarily supported by nonstructural carbon reserves.1
Non-structural carbon reserves?!??!?? What, you may ask, is that? Well, it’s photosynthesis! Sugars created from sunlight.
In some trees these sugars are estimated to have been acquired in photosynthesis more than 57 years before the unfortunate lighting strikes.
“It is amazing to learn that carbon taken up decades ago can be used to sustain its growth into the future.” says Adrian Rocha, an ecosystem ecologist at the University of Notre Dame.
The story of this regrowth harkens even further back. The sprouts that emerged are from buds that formed centuries ago! Scientists estimate that some extend back as much as 1000 years.
Trees, once thought to be facing imminent demise, not only survived but endure and revive. They do so using sixty year old fuel (sugar) which feeds centuries old buds and fountains of growth. It's a testament to the indomitable spirit of life and its remarkable capacity for renewal.
It’s a beautiful thing.
It’s a good thing.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01581-z