November 27th, 2006
in the redwoods – part four
This is the fourth and (maybe) final post in a series on the Coast Redwood forests that we visited in September and October. Click on these links to view parts one, two, and three.
As evidenced by the above sign, these Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) are big trees in almost every respect. With many of them standing over 300 feet tall and over 150 feet to their lowest limbs, all sense of scale goes out the window. How do you rationalize standing next to a tree that’s roughly the height of a 30 story building? It’s also difficult to imagine how these trees remain standing on what are comparatively small root systems. A brochure for the Redwood National and State Park states: Redwoods have no taproot; their roots penetrate only 10-13 feet deep but spread out 60 to 80 feet.
When you’re walking about in most groves, fallen trees are a common enough sight, and the exposed root systems are, indeed, comparatively small. The structure of a well-weathered root system may be seen in this photo taken in Montgomery Woods in Mendocino County.
I’ve previously mentioned the mass of these trees and all of the life which they support. This information page on the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association website states:
In a tropical rainforest, where vegetation is so thick as to be impenetrable, it seems like the ultimate in dense forest conditions. Surprisingly, however, the greatest accumulation of biomass (living and dead organic material) ever recorded on earth is in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where an acre of stem mass (redwood tree trunks) alone has been estimated at 1,541 tons. When branch, leaf and root mass are added, the estimate increases to 1,800 tons per acre – seven times the density of biomass in an acre of tropical rainforest!
When walking in the Redwood groves, it’s certainly not difficult to appreciate that you are in the company of some of the most ancient and venerable giants on earth.
