Photo by Nils Rasmusson on Unsplash Forest fires bring death and destruction, yet they also catalyze the birth of new plant life. The fire clears the overcrowded underbrush to create space and opportunities for the next generation, a cycle necessary for the health of the forest. However, like so many things, the quantity matters. Too little fire and not enough space is created for the next generation, while on the other hand, too much fire and the entire forest burns down. ...
The desert is an unlikely home for a tree, yet in the Mojave Desert of the US southwest, you will find a strange and sharply unique tree, straight from another planet, the Joshua Tree (Yucca Brevifolia). Joshua Tree National Park, located two hours east of Los Angeles, is the perfect destination to appreciate these exceptional trees while they are still here. Due to a variety of factors, which naturally includes a rapidly changing climate, the long-term survival of the Joshua Tree is in jeopardy. By the end of the current century, we could see the range of these majestic trees reduced by 90%, ironically this might include the Joshua Tree National Park itself 1. ...
Photo by Katelynn Ruffner We hear about the rainforest and are reminded of the important role trees play as a global carbon sink, breathing in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis. We have also known for millennia that some trees produce tasty fruit while others provide wonderful building materials, such as the orange and pine trees respectively. And a stroll through any forest forces us to appreciate how vital trees are to their ecosystem. ...
I catch a familiar scent of orange blossom as I walk around my neighborhood, a scent I can’t help but associate with spring and summer at my grandma’s house. I spent nearly every childhood summer at her place, a reprieve from having spent the previous ten, much colder, months in northern Europe. Her orange tree represented the hot California sun, with oranges the color to match. ...
The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine in the White Mountains (CA) photo by Tim Peterson Scattered atop a few of the high mountains of California, Nevada and Utah, sits an extremely special tree, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva). Rooted in rocky and dry soil, they grow slowly and in isolation. Widely considered one of the longest-lived sexually reproducing, non-clonal organisms on earth, their long lifecycle has been instrumental to the scientific community. ...
Big Berried Manzanita (NPS) On the morning of Thanksgiving 2020, my roommate and I eagerly made our way up Condor Gulch trail to marvel at the rock formations this under-appreciated park was known for. And as the sun rose and the morning chill subsided, we took a break to remove some layers, when we realized we were in the presence of a tree neither of us had ever seen before. ...
Trees are so vital to this planet and everything living on it but it seems this fact has been often overlooked or forgotten. Trees offer shelter for animals and beautiful building material for humans, they shade us in the summer and hold hillsides together, and the list goes on. However, trees (and other green plants) play a far more critical role; they are the lungs of our planet. ...