In three days (December 28th), we will mark the 40th anniversary of one of the most important and successful pieces of environmental law in our country’s history – the Endangered Species Act. The Act (commonly known as ESA) protects species …
We may not have a typical white winter wonderland here in the coast redwood forest, but we do have spectacular displays of white leaves that appear this time of year. Half of the fern species that live in the coast …
We have probably all seen squirrels running around with a seed in tow, looking for the perfect place to bury their food for the winter. Some of these seeds do get eaten later, and some are forgotten and eventually grow …
The ability of redwoods to heal themselves is almost as remarkable as how incredibly tall they grow. Amazingly, coast redwoods can heal over a wound when they are injured from fire, are damaged by the wind, or even are cut …
I think I first really learned the meaning of the word “epiphyte” while working in the rainforest of Ecuador. There are epiphytes all over the trees in the tropical rainforest – one of the most famous is the orchid. But …
If there is one piece of equipment to make you feel like a scientist, it has to be a microscope. There is something exciting about being able to see the hidden secrets of an object, the minutiae that are not …
I recently walked with a childhood friend through Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, one of the only old coast redwood forests left in Sonoma County. It certainly felt like fall, with the sunlight low in the sky as midday approached. …
It is a very common experience to pick up a map I’ve made in GIS (Geographic Information Systems, a software mapping program) and realize that there is no way the stream shown on my map is actually where the stream flows on …
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Nature will bear the closet inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.” His words eloquently describe a field of research that would …
If you search on Google images for “scientist,” you get a lot of photos of men and women with unkempt hair, white lab coats and goggles. If you ask a child what they think a scientist looks like, they will …
Ever wondered how big that tree in your backyard is? There are many ways to measure the heights of trees, but most of them unfortunately require lots of time, money, and specialized equipment. There is one method, however, that needs …
Last week, we drove into Humboldt Redwoods State Park at dusk to watch bats dart over Bull Creek. We joined up with USDA Forest Service researcher, Ted Weller, and his team as they studied local and migrating bats through the …
I recently drove eastward through the many vineyards of the Napa Valley in search of coast redwoods living on the species’ eastern boundary. Given how widespread redwoods used to be on planet Earth, the edges of the natural redwood range today …
The Lost Coast is a destination for intrepid hikers who enjoy the rough and uninterrupted coastline of Mendocino County. If you’re one of them, I recommend you take some time looking underfoot next time you explore the wilderness to see …
RCCI’s nursery experiments and tree ring analyses are essential to understanding the past and future of the redwood forest, but it is the trees themselves that tell us about its present. By establishing 16 large plots in old-growth forests throughout …
The redwood lineage has lived on Earth for many millions of years. The first recognizable Sequoia left its imprint in the fossil record 200 millions ago, during the Jurassic when dinosaurs roamed the land and filled the sea. If we journeyed back …
The first phase of the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative was based upon understanding how past climate has affected the ancient redwood and giant sequoia forests. To do this, the research teams relied upon the science of dendrochronology: the analysis of …
Last week, I spent some time wondering broadly about our recent RCCI results, and just whether we could say for certain that 1) climate change is spurring an increase in redwood growth, and 2) if that change is “good” for …
During my years teaching and taking students out into nature, the question that always crossed my mind was, “What can we learn from this forest ecosystem?” Some of us learn to identify plants, trees and birds. Others learn the art …
During a recent conversation with a fellow birding friend, the topic of marbled murrelets came up. Although marbled murrelets are widely known as a species which nest in old-growth redwood forest, my friend pointed out how different the bird is …
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