Since 2020, 3 Fires Have Killed 13%-19% Of Earth's Sequoias; 2022 Drought The Next Bottleneck

[hatrack]

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The trees, which grow in a narrow band of the Sierra Nevada, are accustomed to frequent wildfires — their tree rings show fire recurring every six to 30 years. But the worsening intensity of recent blazes have been too much for them to handle. Since 2020, three fires have resulted in the loss of 13 to 19 percent of the entire population, said Christy Brigham, chief of resources management and science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

In August 2020, the Castle Fire killed up to 10,600 trees. And as many as 3,637 sequoias were killed or will ultimately die as a result of the September 2021 Windy and KNP Complex fires in the southern Sierra Nevada, according to the National Park Service. While fires at lower intensity have beneficial effects for the giant trees by clearing out the flammable vegetation and helping to release seeds from their sturdy cones, Brigham said the main concern is the “large patches of high-severity fire.”

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The southern Sierra, hard hit during the 2012-2016 drought, has become an epicenter for tree mortality. Drought-weakened trees, particularly pine and cedar, were killed by insects during those years, and the effects of the past two years of extreme drought are also becoming apparent. Given record-setting dryness in 2022, another significant die-off is possible this year. “We are starting to see rapid mortality and elevated mortality again, especially in pines,” Brigham said. Research has linked severe burning to swaths of overly dense forest — a legacy of decades of firefighting — and high tree mortality, both of which have helped to drive “mass fires” and firestorms.

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Now in a third year of drought, Sierra forests and giant sequoias face similar threats this summer. Paltry snowpack melted out early this year, reaching zero percent in the southern Sierra on May 24 — just two days later than last year. The first five months of 2022 were the driest on record for California, according to data from NOAA. Parts of the central and southern Sierra are now in exceptional drought, the most severe category. The 2021-22 water year has been the third-driest on record in the southern Sierra, behind 2020-21 and 1976-77.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/14/sequoia-trees-threatened-climate-wildfires/

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. damn, damn, damn

[Ruby Zee]

2. Every day brings new losses

What's happening to our environment and all the living creatures is heart breaking.

[NickB79]

3. Thankfully they're being planted outside their native range

There are trees in Michigan, Ireland, and even one in Minnesota.

I've got two seedlings south of the Twin Cities. Fingers crossed they come through the winter!