Coast Redwood

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1. Redwood Forest- Physiogonomy or botanical architecture of climax old-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)- Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest. The layering of vegetation visible in this "outside" shot indicates the relatively diverse, even complex, structure of this plant community given dominance by the small number of dominant tree species (usually one or two). Four or five layers of shrubs and trees are distinguishable. The lowest layer is riparian vegetation of willows and red alder along Van Duzen River. The second "story" is made up mostly of tanbark or tan oak (Lithocarppus densiflorus) seen in full-flower as the conspicuous yellowish plants. The highest level is made up of mature ("over-ripe") redwoods and the layer below that is of mature Douglas fir and younger coast redwoods. Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No.27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998)

2. Old-growth versus second (etc.)-growth forests- Outer community comparison of the old-growth coast redwood-Douglas-fir forest in the previous slide (on right) to a second-growth forest (mostly coast redwood) that revegetated a clearcut. Note the gullies above Van Duzen River persisting as scars of accelerated erosion caused by either an improperly planned/conducted logging operation and/or logging too close to the watercourse (ie. failure to leave an unlogged buffer along the stream).

Clearcutting is a proper method— often the best method— of redwood and Douglas-fir harvest if the site is not too steep, too near a stream, too large, etc.

Even this less than perfectly conducted clearcut is an example that forests are renewable natural resources and that forest products industries can (must) be managed as regenerative and not extractive industries. In the spirit of stewardship and professionalism of Forestry forests are to be harvested and not mined.

Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California, June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al (1998).

Units of the California Coast Redwood Forest

Noss (2000, p. 46) recognized different forms of coast redwood forest as to geographic location and attendant differences in forest sites among and within natural forest units that he described as sections within which were subsections. Examples of coast redwood forest vegetation presented below were from different subsections. All were in the Northern Section (Noss, 2000, p. 46). Forest vegetation in Del Norte County, California (including Jedidah Smith State Park and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park) was is the Northern Franciscan subsection. Coast redwood forest at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California was in Wiregrass Ridge subsection. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California.was in Coastal Franciscan subsection.

Coast redwood forest vegetation in each of these subsections differed visibly from the others. Botanical diversity was probably greatest at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park while plant species diversity and richness was apparaently less in Humboldt Redwoods State Park where redwoods had greatest density (eg. various groves) and largest individual trees. Burls on trunks of redwoods appeared to be more numerous and larger in the Coastal Franciscan subsection (eg. Humboldt Redwoods State Park).

3. Layers in a coast redwood forest- Numerous species formed several layers (the number was arbitrary) of vegetation in a diverse coast redwood forest. There are notable and remarkable differences among various coast redwood-dominated forest communities even within the relatively small region supporting the coast redwood range type. In the forest scene shown here tan oak (foliage covering over half of the upper left-hand portion of the photograph) was the major associate tree species. Coast redwood cohorts ranged from ancient and giant trees to pole-size to sapling to even a very few seedlings. Large specimens of red huckleberry (Vaccinatum parvifolium) made up most of a second woody layer far beneath redwood crown canopy. California or blue huckleberry (V. ovatum) was also present but in the lower herb-short shrub layer. The major herbaceous species were various species of ferns with the dominant of this group being western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) followed by bracken fern.

Prairie Creek Redwoods Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series in Oregonian Coastal Conifer Forest biotic community of Brown et al. (1998).

4. "Jungle"-like coast redwood forest- A local stand of virgin coast redwood with enough sunlight reaching ground surface to have as well-developed lower layers of vegetation. These lower layers varied locally in number, structure, and species composition. Overall major species included red huckleberry (dominant of the highest shrub layer), California or blue huckleberry, thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), salmonberry (R. spectabilis), sword fern, and hill or coast man-root or, less commonly, wild cucumber (Echinocystis oregana= Marah oreganus) These species were present in the well-lite area of foreground or at outer edge of mature trees in midground. In combination, these various species and their respective life/growth forms made for "rough-going" to ground-bound vertebrates, especially bipeds. Such botanical diversity was much greater in local natural clearings and other openings in the redwood canopy were more-or-less full light could reach the ground level.

5. Climax species composition- This "photographic quadrant" was not sterotypical calendar picture or one of those coffee table book pictures of "nothing but big trees everywhere we looked". Instead this presented an example of the often species-rich composition of coast redwood forest. From a rise in the land surface this view focused down into a draw with western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), two trees at right (the Epson Perfection scanner "shaved off" over half the western hemlock along right margin) co-dominant with coast redwood that was represented by the two largest trees in center midground. The large shrub in left corner of foreground was California hazelnut (Corylus rostrata var. californica= C. cornuta var. californica). Other shrub such as those in right corner foreground included such well-represented species as red huckleberry, California or blue huckleberry, salmonberry, and thimbleberry. Sword fern was the dominant herbaceous spceies.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series in Oregonian Coastal Conifer Forest biotic community of Brown et al. (1998).

6. Fog belt coast redwood- Coast redwood comprised all of the tree stocking in this stand, including the hollow snag at right margin. Sword fern was the dominant herbaceous species. Shrubs in this local assemblage consisted mostly of California or blue huckleberry and dwarf maple (Acer glabrum). Any local grouping of plant species is arbitrary and by itself would give a distorted--at least biased--view of the overall forest range vegetation. Finding, evaluationg, and presenting an adequate number of such assemblages permitted a more accurate general view of forest features including botanical composition, (age classes as well as plant species and groupings of those species), plant community development and structure, physiogonomy, forest site characteristics, etc.

7. Another example of uneven-age form of coast redwood with various ages classes of redwood along with western hemlock (eg. tree at far left margin) was provided by this old-growth stand in the fog belt of the Coast Range.Western hemlock has a tolerance rating of Very Tolerant whereas Sitka spruce and redwood have been rated as Tolerant (Wenger, 1984, p. 3). Western hemlock is a climax component of established coast redwood forests. Examples of the more tolerant western hemlock germinating and growing on organic matter of rotten (nurse) logs were presented below.

8. Hemlock hiding in the redwoods- A western hemlock of respectible size (mature tree, and probably still actively growing) in the middle of an old-growth forest dominated by coast redwood. This tree provided "live evidence" of the phenomena of tolerance and plant succession. There was abundant reproduction of coast redwood (as shown) here by sexual (natural reseeding) and asexual (sprouting from trunks and roots). Locally dominant shrub species was California rosebay (also written rose-bay) or California rhodendron (Rhodendron macrophyllum), but thimbleberry and salmonberry abounded as well.

9. Interior of old-growth coastal redwood forest- Deep inside a stand of the kind of magnificant redwood monarchs for which diehard conservationists devoted their lives to preserving so that future generations could experience the same marvel. Here thousand year-old specimens of coast redwood grew with scattered western hemlock. There was abundant redwood regeneration of various age classes. The taller of non-conifer trees was red huckleberry and California hazlenut. Thimbleberry was "everywhere". Ferns, especially sword fern, formed an herbaceous layer that was as much as a yard in depth (height). The layering of vegetation seen as multi-canopies of plant life--and not the picnic ground-like appearance emphasizing size of redwoods used on post cards--was typical of the natural vegetation of this forest range type.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

10. Some young Sitka spruce in an old-growth coast redwood forest- In the summer fog of the Coast Range individuals of Sitka spruce were making themselves to home in the famed Redwood Belt. Sitka spruce were represented here by the largest tree at left corner and the tree with profuse trunk branches in center midground). Other trunks were those of coast redwood. Both Sitka spruce and redwood have been rated as Tolerant (Wenger, 1984, p. 3) and these two conifers along with the Very Tolerant western hemlock (Wenger, 1984, p. 3) comprise most of the stocking of this climax fog belt forest with redwood as dominant and Sitka spruce and esstern hemlock as associate species.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

11. Uneven-age virgin stand- Coast redwood forests, especially local stands, are often--perhaps characterically--composed of trees of the same or very similar ages. When forest ecologists have "worked backward" using biological concepts such as plant succession to reconstruct development of such forest vegetation it became apparent that the redwood trees were of the same cohort (or, at most, just a few cohorts) resulting in even-age stands or, in some cases, entire forests of even-age trees. Coast redwood is to a large extent a disturbance species with regeneration benefitting from--maybe even dependent on--natural disturbances including fire, flood, windthrow, even disease and insect outrbreaks or human-caused disturbances such as timber harvest and attendant soil scarification or fire (this latter including both prescreption and untended wild fires).

Coast redwood can under certain conditions develop into uneven-age stands or forests even under natural environments. Such a stand was profiled here. In this "photo-plot" coast redwood included mature trees of immense size and "ripe old age" along trees of mid-maturity (call them "half-grown"), saplings and larger seedlings. All but seedlings were visible in this photograph.

Also present in this sample of old-growth coast redwood forest were various "beneath-the-crown-canopy" species ranging from smaller trees down through large shrubs, small shrubs, and herbaceous species includuing California hazlenut, red hucklebrry, California huckleberry, thimbleberry, salmonberry, and sword fern. Grasses and grasslike plants were as rare as teeth in the birds that perched in the redwoods.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

12. Parent and progeny (at least the age of parent and offspring)- An ancient and huge coast redwood along side a younger--though still large even by redwoodstandards--sexually produced (genotype) coast redwood. This illustrated the age-based structure and physiogonomy of an old-growth coast redwood forest of uneven-age composition and architecture. Understorey vegetation was dominated locally by sword fern and California huckleberry. Trunk of the younger, smaller tree bore in interesting scar from what had obviously been at one time a large, deep wound. What tales trees could tell if they could talk.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

13. Forests of legend- Dense old-growth coast redwood forests with immense trees show why this was the stuff of legend (tall tales could scarcely exaggerate the massiveness and majesty of trees and grandeur of forest). Observe that the trees even though mature are of various ages (one on far right is burnt stump; a sapling to its left) and the fire-scared bark. Coast redwood is to a degree a fire type. Actually the species benefits from many natural disturbances such as flood and fire. Large forbs and shrubs within depth of field of this photograph include sword fern (Polystichum munitum), bracken fern, thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), California wax myrtle, and California or blue huckleberry. Herb layer limited to ferns. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

14. Redwood cathedral- On what have probably been countless occasions numerous people have made references to the coast redwoods as "catherals", "God's cathedrals", "cathedral-like", etc. Perhaps this stems from Johh Muir who frequently referred to the gauruantian trees of giant seqoia (Sequoiadendron gigantea) in such superlatives. A more explicit or less vague usage is that of "cathedral trees" as applied to specimens like the group of coast redwood trunks shown above. In such instances there was apparently (or presumedly) a previous coast redwood growing on the same spot that was top-killed (aboveground portions of the tree died due to injury from forest fire, windthrow, etc.) and that then sprouted from epicormic buds at the base of trunk or stump. Over course of centuries several of these redwood sprouts from the cluster or clump of the previous trunk or stump survived so that ultimately these resprout shoots grew into massive "trees" so close together as to resemble the columns of a temple or cathedral. This are, simply put, tree sprouts writ old and large (more like ancient and gigantic). More of the unique feature (among conifers) of sprouting ability in coast redwood was shown below when treating coast redwood groves in the Coastal Franciscan subsection of the coast redwoods regional forest.

Each of the individual trunks in this gigantic clump of sprouts is a clone of the original genetic coast redwood (each resprout or stump shoot has the genotype of the seedling). If any or all of these resprouts that have matured into fullgrown coast redwoods were to be killed any resprouts of such would remain clones or ramets of the original genetic individual, the genet. The ancient and behemoth trunks are products of asexual reproduction with only the original genotype of the seedling being the progeny of sexual reproduction. In this manner, coast redwood has its own version of "resurrection" and, among living things on Earth, approaches immortality or "life everlasting". An individual of this species is a "live-forever plant".

White circle with a dot at right side of tree cluster (in the middle at base of the "gunsight" space between tree trunks was the authors hat. Size of these hugh trees boggles the mind and dwarfs the lid covering it.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

15. Fire was the sculptur- Fire is a major abiotic factor in the coast redwood forest. Note epicormic, ready-to-sprout burls on scar shown in first photograph.These two examples of fire scars on coast redwood represented typical healed wounds that remainded as stark evidence of past "flames in the redwood forest". The lower scar had developed into a goosepen form of injury due to heat and phsical loss of wood. Some such scars are of such great size in bigger trees as to provide cover for large animals, including temporary housing for humans and even their livestock. (More was discussed about redwood burls below).

Plants by scar in second photograph included big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and various species of ferns (foremost fronds were of the dominant western sword fern.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

16. Coast redwood and California rosebay- This is the favorite sort of shot of the redwood forest by calendar publishers and the Sierra Club. It catches the dominant tree's characteristic bark and the most showy shrub of the understory. The picture is misleading to the "uninitiated" (polite language for "ignorant greenhorn") and teaches an ecological lesson usually missed by touchy-feely greens idyllically dreaming of perfect forests. Although rose bay is a climax shrub of the redwood forest it grows most vigorously when it receives lots of direct light. As a shrub in the dense climax coastal forest it survives as a scrawny, thinly branched, sparsely blooming plant. It is also a member of earlier seral stages on go-back land, cut-over forests, etc. It is on these habitats that rose bay blooms most profusely. What the shot seen here does not show is that on this southern slope the redwood is more dead than alive, most of its top having blown off in a windstorm. The good crop of Rhodendron blossoms is due to the resulting "windfall" of sunlight. Solid redwood canopy and abundant rose bay flowers are mutually exclusive. This is a response characteristic of many forest understory species. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

17. Rose-bay and fire- Closer view of a fire-charred snag of coast redwood and the common occurrence or presence of rosebay associated with (typically close proximity to) such a habitat marker. The natural opening afforded by loss of tree canopy permitted adequate light for a flourishing specimen of this member of the Ericaceae that is a common understorey shrub in the coast redwood cobver type.

Snags are one stage of the ecological life cycle of a tree that often provide essential features of a forest, at least for some organisms. Snags serve as habitat, espcially cover, for cavity nesting birds and mammals. They furnish shelter for vulnerable seedlings and young plants of certain species such as the rosebay growing beside this snag. This is one form of the nurse plant syndrome, a form of commensalism. Makes no difference to the dead redwood, but that snag may make all the difference that counts for the Pacific rhodendron. Snags often serve as lightening rods which in turn become smoldering sources of fire brands leading to forest fires. In the hey day of Smokey Bear "total fire suppression" policy and practice such snags were viewed as a hazard to "life of the forest" so that these burnt-out ole sentinels were felled by the forester. Now woodswise foresters realize that such snags and most fires that they contribute to can be essential to maintenance of coastal redwood which is partly a fire type (fire-dependent dominance type).

What happens when the snag falls as the next stage in the life cycle of a coast redwood? Next slide ...

18. "Deadwood"- A fallen redwood that crashed either as a snag (as shown above) or as a live treeunder certain conditions (say with water saturated soil coupled with high winds) became a nurse log to two young trees of western hemlock (pole-size), western sword fern, bracken fern, and California or blue huckleberry. Fallen, rotten tree trunks retain lots of water that was absorbed as rain, snowmelt, or even fog drip. This "blotter effect" serves as one reservoir of forest water which in combination with organic matter and released, recycled mineral nutrients functions as a nursery for certain plants, including western hemlock and Sitka spruce, that do not need bare, exposed mineral soil to the extent required by redwood seedlings. Likewise ferns and certain of the huckleberry species "rejoice" in the deep organic matter of redwood needles and decaying wood. In this way even a decaying coast redwood continues to contribute to the welfare of the forest to which it for centuries had been a living member. Even in death a coast redwood tree provides vital functions to the forest: first as snag then as rotten log.

"Deadwood" is a cliched term sometimes leveled at senior tenured professors whose rates of publication in the referred literature have declined or whose course teaching loads are less than when these faculty had been younger and "more productive" members of the university "forest". Presumedly such "deadwood" should be removed so that the space they occupy could be replaced by younger, "faster-growing" academic timber. Supposedly this avoids an intellectual "timber famine". Roles of dead redwoods teach a different lesson. "Deadwood" is beneficial, perhaps essential, to the sylvan academy. Even when such "slow-growing", " dead snag" (recall preceding photograph), or "rotten log" professors do remain as part of the stand of scholars they may serve useful, even indespensible, purposes. They may, for example, provide more counseling or consolation to students which the untenured, "higher-producing" junior faculty cannot afford to furnish in a "Publish or Perish" dense, highly competitive forest community. "Deadwood" faculty may serve to nourish or protect the young, rapid-growing, developing, junior "trees" who are now publishing productively, but which, in turn, in later stages of their academic life cycle become "deadwood" after they have passed their prime as "ripe timber", "seed trees", etc. Many lessons in life are taught by forest and range.

19. More "deadwood"- Another nurse log in an old-growth coast redwood forest served as the nursery fo a western hemlock, various ferns, and California or blue huckleberry. Note that several of the roots of the western hemlock grew around the rotting redwood log and down into the soil below. Coast redwood regenerates sexually best when its seed comes into contact with mineral soil (the A horizon rather than the O holrizon), but western hemlock and Sitka spruce readily germinate, emerge, and root in deep organic matter like forest duff or rotten wood as in nurse logs.

20. More useful dead wood- Snag of western hemlock with fruiting bodies of artist's conk running wild. Artist's conk was once interpreted as Fomes applanatum, but present interpretation is that this is a complex of three taxa now named Ganoderma applanatum). Such snags also provide habitat for animals including such vertebrates as cavity nesting birds and mammals.

Caution to greenhorns in the woods: stand clear of snags on windy days. These "widow-makers" can fall in even modest winds resulting in killing or crimpling of those within reach (fall radius) of the snag. Some things are best admired from a distance.

Jedidah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series in Oregonian Coastal Conifer Forest biotic community of Brown et al. (1998).

21. Artist's conk (Ganoderma applanatum complex, formerly Fomes applanatum)- Underside of artist's conk on the westrn hemlock snag shown in the preceding slide. Mosses and ferns had also set up housekeeping on this column of dead wood.

Jedidah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County, California. June.

22. Interior of old-growth coast redwood forest- The climax vegetation seen here is a composite of the layers in this forest cover type. It shows that there is browse in virgin redwood forests such that even this dense primeval woods does function as permanent forest range (ie. redwood forest is not transitory range only; the type provides browse at all stages of succession on some sites). The tallest of the understory trees is tan oak (one in full-bloom is immediately to the left of the center redwood). The tallest shrub (sometimes of tree height and form) is red bilberry or red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium). It is the woody plant directly in front of the center redwood. Blue or California huckleberry is to left and rear of the center redwood. California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica= C.rostrata var.californica) is barely visible at far right. Herbaceous layer is almost exclusively sword fern.

Jedidah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

23. Fog in the forest- Fog is a major abiotic factor in the coast redwood and other Coast Range forest cover types. The slide presented here captured the common presence of fog and another sample of the species composition of the redwood type. Sitka spruce (foremost tree on the left with dead basal branches) was an associate species to coast redwood on this second-growth forest. Both Sitka spruce and redwood have been rated as Tolerant (Wenger, 1984, p. 3). These two conifers along with western hemlock (Very Tolerant rating) are commonly associated with, by definition, coast redwood the dominant and Sitka spruce and western hemlock being associate species. Redwood sorrel was abundant in this stand which, unlike the foggy scene at this instant point in time, normally received more light than adjoining virgin stands. Ferns, including the ever-present sword fern, was also extremely abundant in this light environment.

24. Grove of giants- Interior of an old-growth grove of coast redwood of density and immensity for which the species and its forest is famous. Giant, mature redwoods grew so dense in this grove or local stand that the understorey was limited primarily to redwood regeneration (mostly sprouts from burls and trunk bases) and ferns with most of the latter limited to sword ferns. Redwood sorrel was present only in less shaded areas though it was a local dominant on such less densely shaded spots. The burl on right side of foremost redwood was approximate size of a family dining table (compare to large sword ferns to its right). These epicormis burls are capable of producing profuse branching (shown in next photograph) and, should the tree suffer major damage, regeneration of a new trunk.

Founders' Grove, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California.

25. Burl growth- Obviously this was not a sunlite picture, but even in the dim natural light (early afternoon) in shade of ancient redwoods the profuse foliage produced by a large burl on a grove redwood illustrated the capacity for regenerating growth of this epicormic tissue. Certain individual trees of coast redwood and/or redwoods in certain habitats produce burls more readily and abundantly than those of other genotypes and environments. Whether this is genetic (perhaps, ecotypic variation), phenotypic plasticity in response to local growing conditions, and/or specific features of local environment was not known to this author. One thing for certain: those big chunks of sprouting wood on a giant tree trunk are impressive.

Founders' Grove, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California.

26. Fire as a factor- Fire is something of an enigma to coast redwood. Disturbances like intense fire, flooding, and silvicultural treatments that expose mineral soil permit establishment of redwood seedlings. Yet, fire as stand destroying crown fires or even rather low-intensity surface fires can result in injury to redwoods. The trunk base of this old, gigantic redwood had experenced surface fire(s) to such extent that the huge trunk at the butt swell was burnt "plumb through". Such heat injury and physical loss of tissue, especially the living cambium layer, permits entry of pathogens such as fungus species which can then induce degenerative diseases like heart rot.

Overall, fire has always been a major factor in redwood forests: just one more thing with which these marvelous trees and their forests have evolved over the millenia. Fire does kill some redwoods, but it more readily kills some associated conifers including western hemlock and Sitka spruce which do not sprout and do not require exposed mineral soil to the degree that is optimum for coast redwood. If forest fire was an exterminating 'enemy" of coast redwood this species would have gone extinct thousands of years ago.

Numerous forest ecologists interpret coast redwood as a fire type. Zinke (in Barbour and Major, 1995, p. 696) wondered if coast redwood forests could be maintained in absence of recurrent fire (natural or prescription) and flood cycles.

Incidentially, the burnt-through specimen teaching this lesson was still "alive and well".

Founders' Grove, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California.

27. Tan oak (Lithocarpus densiflorus)- Tan oak is, with Padific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), the major hardwood tree associated with the coast redwood cover type (Roy in [Eyre, 1980, p. 109]). This attractive member of the Fagaceae gets it's common name from the former widespread use of it's high-tannin content bark (Peattie, 1953, ps. 414-415) for tanning cattle hides. The earliest major industry in Spanish-Mexican California was commerce in hides and tallow (the latter mostly for candles). New England merchants sailed their ships around the horn of South America (there being no American Cannel at Panama) up to ports in California like San Francisco. There was global trade in cattle hides that were produced in abundance on ranges in both North and South America. As Adam Smith wrote in Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1776, ps. 200-202) it is the province of early livestock industries in developing countries to deal in commodities like wool, hides, and tallow. Every California rangeman (and those Californians wanting to know the real [vs. Hollywood] culture of their grand Bear Flag Republic) should read the story of the California hide trade in the classic Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana (1840). The other classic in this context is The Cattle on a Thousand Hills by Cleland (1941, ps. 31,34,106, 111, 134, 135, 185, 188, 197). For years the real currency of California was cattle hides. In remote parts of the "real California" where folk are countrified (and proud of it) a cow hide is still known as a "California banknote". "Frisco" once had excellent tanneries, but that was when it had more character than snobbery. Tan oak was also known as squaw oak after the habit of California Indians making a flour and mush from the crushed and extracted acorns (Peattie, 1953, p. 415). Trinity California, California. June.

28. Leaves and fruit of big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)- This is another hardwood tree species found in the second tree layer in coast redwood forests. It is more commonly found in other communities in the coastal Pacific Northwest including those of riparian habitats. Broadleaf or Oregon maple, other common names for this species, was given a tolerance rating of Tolerant by the Society of American Foresters (Wenger, 1984, p.4 ). This is one of the few commercially important hardwood tree species along the Pacific Coast, but as a prolific sprouter it is more often a silvicultural weed treebut it is not a pioneer species that aggressively invades clearcuts (Minore and Zasada, In Burns and Honkala, 1990, p. 33-40). It is an example of the remarkable species diversity of the coast redwood forest cover type.

Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

29. Archtypical portrait of coast redwood forest- Coast redwood as sole tree species and sword fern as a single-species herbaceous understory. On seres (sere: the entire sequence or set of stages in development of vegetation going from initial stage to terminal stage of climax) of certain sites species diversity is lowest at climax. Redwood forest at this specific location is a case in point. Jedidah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

30. Sword fern (Polystichum munitum)- There are numerous species of ferns in the coast redwood forest but sword fern is the most common and often the dominant or even sole species of the herb layer. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

31. Redwood Sorrel (Oxalis oregana)- This rhizomatous creeping species commonly makes up the lowest layer of vascular herbs on the redwood forest floor. It often grows in patches interspersed among colonies of ferns like sword and bracken ferns. Redwood sorrel is so adapted to shade that it folds up its trifoliate leafs within minutes of being struck by rare shafts of direct light. It is reportedly eaten by grazing animals. It was used as a pot herb by Indians and frontiersmen. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June.

32. Floodplain redwood- This old-growth grove of coast redwood is growing on rich alluvium along terraces of the Eel River. Contrary to what might be expected of such long-lived and giant trees, coast redwood is actually a species that thrives— indeed often requires —such disturbances as floods, fires, windthrow, etc. (Barbour and Major, 1995, ps. 684-695; Dallman, 1998, ps. 84-88; Noss, 2000, ps. 111-116). Barbour (1993, p. 56) noted that "protecting" redwoods from fire and flood would eventually lead to their extermination. This is why silviculturalists and commercial lumberman often favor clearcutting (even-aged management) over selective cutting (uneven-aged management), but coast redwood seedlings often survive and grow faster with some shade which moderates temperature (Barbour, 1993, p. 57).

Coast redwood is one of the few conifers that resprouts. Large redwood trunks often have massive burls of meristematic tissue from which new stems sprout following fire or covering by mud, silt, etc. following floods. These burls may weigh in terms of tons and grow at heights 100 feet above the forest floor (Eifert, 1998, p. 17).. Like the quaking aspen and grasses redwood is a clonal organism. Thousand-year old trees may be resprouts from burned, mud-covered, or fallen trees which in turn had been resprouts. The burls appear to be more common on redwoods growing on floodplains. At least four burls are visible on the center tree in this grove, including one high up on the bole. This is a luxuriant herbaceous understory of redwood sorrel, sword fern, and bracken fern, but woody understory is limited strictly to young redwoods. In Founders Grove, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest). SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

33. Banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus)- This critter reminds the range and forest practitioner that not all herbivores are economically important vertebrates or even insects. The shell-less mollusk seen here may function as a decomposer of sorts by consuming and reducing compost, but it also feeds on and contributes to death of redwood seedlings (Noss, 2000, p. 147). Regeneration of one of the largest and longest-lived organisms on Earth can be affected by an invertebrate not even "respectable" enough to have an exoskeleton or snail shell.

Not every thing in an ecosystem is indispensable to that ecosystem (essential for ecosystem function), but nothing in an ecosystem is unimportant.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

34. Forest products industry in the famed Redwood Empire- This is a terminal landing for redwood and Douglas fir logs harvested from the Pacific Coast Redwood Forest at base of a crop of second- growth redwoods growing on a clearcut.

Homo sapiens is the most versatile animal on this planet and he has successfully exploited its resources to the extent that he appears likely to overpopulate his habitat (if not done so already). The solution to this species-threatening situation is to first control our population and then to scientifically manage, wisely use, and efficiently develop natural resources for production of food and fiber (conservation). The alternative is to starve and thirst while freezing in the dark in sub-standard housing. The gasoline crisis of the 1970s and the natural gas and electricity crisis of the new millenium remind us of the dual perils of wasteful use and inadequate development of natural resources. The human population has exceeded the level at which we can afford the luxury of "locking up" vast stores of resources for purposes of sentimentality, beauty and "naturalness" as seen in the eyes of those who do yet face starvation and deprivation.

Forest resources of wood, water, forage, etc. must be produced and harvested (ie. consumed) while at the same time protected for future generations (ie. conserved) if all people are to share in the God-given bounty of Nature. Forests like those of the coast redwoods provide wood products for "home and hearth", life-giving water, feed for production of meat and clothing, recreation, and jobs and incomes for families. Wisely managed, they can continue to do so for future manipulators and consumers in forest and range ecosystems. Pacific Lumber Company. Humboldt County, California.

35. The regenerative forest- Even-aged management of coast redwood. This group of clearcuts shows redwood forest compartments of different ages, each compartment with trees of the same age therein. On some forest sites and under certain economic conditions even-aged management of redwoods can be a superior silvicultural and forest management practice. It can maximize forest regeneration and growth rate of trees which shortens the rotation thereby producing more wood, reducing risks to forest resources, and maximizing profit to the firm. Alternatively, even-aged management can be inferior in rate of forest recovery on other sites and increase ecological and financial risk (eg. on sites not favorable to coppice sprouting from stumps/burls or where lack of shade results in greater heat and soil dryness and consequent poor establishment of redwood seedlings). Clearcutting is a more intensive practice in industrial forestry and presents both more risks and opportunities. Almost invariably even-age management practices result in reduced species diversity and often are monocultures such as the redwood plantation seen in immediate right foreground.

For years Pacific Lumber Company harvested high-grade lumber from it's extensive redwood forest holdings according to uneven-age management practices. Pacific Lumber used selective-cutting on a scientific basis and harvested timber with minimal impact on the forest. Pacific Lumber was the darling of conservation groups. Unfortunately all of those assets "on the stump" caught the attention of a corporate raider. A hostile takeover took place because the cost of purchasing enough stock to gain a controlling interest was less than the assets in quality stumpage. (Stumpage is the term for standing timber and its value "in the woods", uncut, per unit area.) The corporate raider came in and commenced clearcutting redwood timber (ie. they began liquidating the assets the first owner had been growing for future production and sustained profit). For a while this even allowed a raise in mill wages so folks thought fondly of the new owner— for a while.

The original Pacific Lumber Company was into industrial forestry for the long haul. What about the new owner?

Above Scoia Mills of Pacific Lumber Company, Humboldt County, California.

FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

36. Third harvest (rotation) of redwood- Fresh clearcut in second-growth redwood indicates the relative size of clearcuts in coast redwood forest. The majesty and timelessness of pristine forest with cathedral-like trees tend to overwhelm the fact that coast redwood is one of the fastest growing tree species which comprises one of the most productive forest ecosystems and lucrative kinds of commercial forest in the world.

Zinke and Delwiche in Scheuring (1983, p. 61) reported that one redwood stand produced 5000 board feet/acre/year, one of the greatest yields of wood in the world. Much of this sort of production is due to site potential which is made up to large extent by climate and soils. The impressive records are on alluvial soils of river terraces and most commercial redwood production is up in the hills of the Coast Range. The fact remains, however, that redwood trees are not just spectacular curiosities. They are also a wood crop capable of scientific management and sustained production for future use. Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

37. Secondary succession in coast redwood forest- This is the edge of a clearing in second-growth redwood (south slope). Naturalized Eurasian grasses (especially soft chess [Bromus mollis] and red brome [B. rubens]) comprise the herbaceous layer and one of the first seral stages following deforestation. The shrub layer is typically the next seral stage and it is represented by coyotebrush (Baccharis pilularis ssp. consanguinea) as the dominant shrub. Scattered young redwood saplings have become established from seed (ie. natural regeneration versus artificial regeneration by human planting of small trees). Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

38. Secondary succession in coast redwood forest- This is a more advanced stage of recovery on a redwood forest sere. It too is a clearing in second-growth forest on a south slope, but there is more coyotebrush along with poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) and toyon ( Photinia arbutifolia) and less grass cover. There are also more redwood saplings. Humboldt County, California. June.

39. Secondary succession in coast redwood forest- This is a north slope in the same clearing as seen in the last two slides. Here regeneration of redwood is not only more advanced but reproduction was by both seed and coppice sprouting from stumps. Exact age of clearing was not determined but on both slopes regeneration could have been accelerated by artificial regeneration. Humboldt County, California, June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

40. Cut-over coast redwood forest- Cut-over forest are forests that have been logged or harvested; cut-over land is that from which trees have been cut. As commonly and more specifically used, however, the term implies land that was harvested and "let lay" (ie abandoned) In other words forests that were logged or cut and left to regenerate by secondary succession rather than by artificial regeneration as in tree planting or at least being managed so as to facilitate natural seeding from nearby trees. Cut-over forest implies "cut-and-run" or "cut-and-get-out" type operations: take what timber is there and abandon the logged land (ie. harvest but put nothing back for the next crop). Cut-over forests are the equivalent of abandoned farm land (old fields or go-back land).This is not Forestry, but simply treating lumbering as an extractive not a generative industry. It is mining the forest resources. Such was the frontier perspective when there seemed to be inexhaustible stores of all natural resources just waiting to be taken before the next man did. This forest go-back land had much slower rates of reproduction and forest regeneration, and often became by default low quality range.

Coast redwood eventually returned to the site seen here, but an herbaceous understory persist that is a mixture of forbs and grasses. Most of the grasses are naturalized species that dominate the annual grassland type of the interior Coast Range and Sierra foothills and the coastal perennial grass prairies. There is a mixing of species from the two human-modified grassland types (described in the Grassland slides) closest to the coast redwood region. The annual bromes, sweet vernalgrass, velvetgrass, and perennial fescue are most common. Native grasses like tufted hairgarass, California oatgrass, and Pacific reedgrass are infrequent. Bracken fern is a common forb. Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No. 27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

41. Cut-over Pacific Coast forest in the famed Redwood Empire- Second-growth forest of coast redwood and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla). This and the previous slide are examples of transitory forest range. It was seen earlier that old-growth coast redwood forests provide browse as permanent forest range. When, through secondary succession, the vegetation seen here redevelops to the climax forest (if left long enough before logging second-growth) the herbaceous understory will be largely replaced. The grass understory is thus transitory range and is of most benefit to cattle or horses, but even black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) benefit from the increased forage and browse produced by forest harvests. Humboldt County, California. June.

42. Natural regeneration of Pacific Coast forest- This cut-over forest in the Redwood Empire is a composite of second-growth forest approaching the species composition of the climax coast redwood forest. The trees with lighter trunks are western hemlock which is an associate of the coast redwood. The grass understory of the later seral stage seen in the last two slides has been replaced by bracken fern and shorter shrubs like California or blue huckleberry. The forest site seen in these three slides of cut-over forest is moderately level upland at an elevation about midway between river floodplains and the upper elevational limit of redwood. It is about 10 miles coastward of the interior-most limit of coast redwood. Comparison of this vegetation with that of the two previous slides indicates the transitory nature of grass forage on cut-over coastal forests of the redwood region. Humboldt County, California. June. FRES No.27 (Redwood Forest Ecosystem), K-6 (Redwood Forest), SAF 232 (Redwood). Coast Redwood Series of Brown et al. (1998).

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