Tens of millions of trees in danger from California drought

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://carnegiescience.edu/news/tens-millions-trees-danger-california-drought

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Tens of millions of trees in danger from California drought[/font]

Monday, December 28, 2015

[font size=3]Washington, DC—California’s forests are home to the planet’s oldest, tallest and most-massive trees. New research from Carnegie’s Greg Asner and his team reveals that up to 58 million large trees in California experienced severe canopy water loss between 2011 and today due to the state’s historic drought. Their results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

…

“The Carnegie Airborne Observatory's research provides invaluable insight into the severity of drought impacts in California's iconic forests. It will be important to bring their cutting-edge data and expertise to bear as the state seeks to address the effects of this epidemic of dying trees and aid in the recovery of our forests,” said Ashley Conrad-Saydah, deputy secretary for climate policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Since day one of CAO flight operations, Asner has been engaged with forest managers and officials from the California EPA and Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to inform decision-makers on the severity of forest water losses from the drought and beetle outbreaks. The team’s results also helped motivate the California governor’s recent proclamation of a state of emergency for dead and dying trees across the state. The latest CAO maps of forest vulnerability were recently transmitted to both state and federal partners.

“Our high-resolution mapping approach identifies vulnerable trees and changing landscapes,” Asner added. “Continued airborne and satellite monitoring will enable actions on the ground to mitigate a cascade of negative impacts from forest losses due to drought, as well as aid in monitoring forest recovery if and when the drought subsides.”

[/font]

Caption: Progressive forest canopy water stress in the state of California from 2011 to 2015, courtesy of Greg Asner.

…[/font]

[patricia92243]

1. But, but, but there is no climate change - just ask the Republicans. :(

[dreamnightwind]

2. Anecdotal, I live in norcal redwood forest

(western Sonoma county) and had a tree trimmer climbing my (over) 200 foot redwood trees earlier today, removing the dead limbs before the winds come and bring them down on the house.

Our land has probably never been this dry since the house was built, which was over 90 years ago. The dryness has caused some land shift (I guess it shrinks some as it dries, impacted my carport in a bad way but I'm in the process of fixing that).

Anyway, the tree climber/trimmer, who is not technically an arborist but has a lifetime of experience working with these trees, says my trees (I use the possessive pronoun loosely, the trees are on the home's land but I never actually think of them as mine, they will outlive me and owning them seems absurd) are dry but in excellent shape.

I was shocked, I was expecting really bad news given the severity of this drought. These redwoods are incredibly resilient.

Some of the douglas firs in the neighborhood are not faring as well, some neighbors are out a lot of money to remove them before they fall, I've only seen a few trees felled though.

From the map you posted (very interesting graphic!), it looks like the worst of it is in the western Sierras, which would only very rarely be redwoods. The redwoods are able to get some of their water requirements from the coastal fog we get, up there in the Sierras the trees are probably more dependent on rainfall.

Anyway, some regions of California and its trees are in really bad shape, many other parts of the state are doing well enough, considering.

Looks like a wet winter, finally. I got over 10" rain (my estimate) in December, a good sign. Usually 40" here is ok, and some years I've had over 100". The stream in my backyard is making great sounds again, mostly absent for the last 5 years or so.

Just a report from one location. Thanks for the OP! Here's hoping for a long wet winter.