Knowing how
giant sequoia trees responded to a 500 - year warm spell in the past is important because scientists predict that climate change will probably subject the trees to such a warm, dry environment again, said Swetnam, a UA professor of dendrochronology and director of UA's Laboratory of Tree - Ring Research.
Scientists reconstructed the 3,000 - year history of fire by dating fire scars on ancient
giant sequoia trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park.
Artist Statement Sequoia National Park is located in the southern part of Sierra Nevada in California which is known for
its giant sequoia trees.
Giant sequoia trees, redwood trees, and some varieties of pine trees can live thousands of years.
Even in wet years,
giant sequoia trees have the challenging task of conducting water up hundreds of feet, against gravity, to carry through processes for photosynthesis.
From simple molecules, life can form
the giant sequoia tree.
This cross-section of
a giant sequoia tree shows some of the tree - rings and fire scars.
There seems to be a GREAT deal of
giant sequoia tree ring samples and data sitting in the lab in Arizona, and except for Swetnam, Brown, et al. has languished there for over a decade.
Not exact matches
In its heyday, it was a popular stopover for people looking to see the Calaveras Big
Trees, a recently discovered grove of
giant sequoias that attracted tourists from all over.
That includes visits to World Record hot spots in the U.S. such as the World's Tallest Outdoor Rock - Climbing Wall in Reno, Nevada; Bowling Green, Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, which is home to the world's longest known cave system; the World's Largest Living
Tree — a
giant sequoia named General Sherman — in California's
Sequoia National Park; and the volcanic - formed Crater Lake in Oregon, which at 1,943 feet is America's deepest lake.
A team of scientists in Hawaii has developed a way to chart the chronology of a turtle's life using the growth lines in its shell, much like the life span of a
giant sequoia might be measured in
tree rings.
The
giant sequoia is a snow
tree, says scientist Steve Sillett, adapted for long winters in the Sierra Nevada.
But if you want to do more exploring, take a half - day trip to Calaveras Big
Trees State Park, where you can walk among the
giant sequoias.
In summer, take a dip in nearby swimming holes, follow the switchbacked hiking trail to Chilnualna Falls (best in spring), get a history lesson at Pioneer Yosemite History Center (and take a horse - drawn carriage ride), and visit the Mariposa Grove of
giant sequoias, protecting more than 500 of these spectacular (and spectacularly huge)
tree.
In summer, take a dip in nearby swimming holes, follow the switchbacked hiking trail to Chilnualna Falls (best in spring), get a history lesson at Pioneer Yosemite History Center (and take a horse - drawn carriage ride), and visit the Mariposa Grove of
giant sequoias, protecting more than 500 of these spectacular (and spectacularly huge)
trees.
One of three members of the Sequoioideae subfamily of cypress
trees, the coast redwoods and their cousins, the
giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), hold the records for tallest and largest
trees in the world, respectively.
Lignin describes a class of polymers that give
trees such as the
giant redwood, or
sequoia, the ability to grow to such towering heights.
The new research extends Swetnam's previous
tree - ring fire history for
giant sequoias another 1,000 years into the past.
This issue has already been addressed by Dr Bartholemew at UC Berkeley «Fire scars in the rings of
giant sequoias describe fire history dating back to the birth of the
tree — sometimes as far back as 2,500 years ago.
From a University of Arizona press release,
Giant Sequoias Yield Longest Fire History from
Tree Rings
Consider this, the
giant sequoia known as General Sherman
tree — the largest, by volume, known living single stem
tree in the world — reaches a height of 275 feet, diameter of 25 feet and estimated bole volume of 52,513 cubic feet.
Tree rings and fire scars in ancient pines,
giant sequoias and bigcone Douglas - fir
trees reveal long - term patterns and causes of changes in fire regimes in those forests, including the roles of people and climate variations.