Arborists Are Bringing the 'Dinosaur of Trees' Back To Life (qz.com)

Arborists are cloning saplings from the stumps of the world's largest, strongest, and longest-lived trees -- felled for timber more than a century ago -- to create redwood "super groves" that can help fight climate change. "Using saplings made from the basal sprouts of these super trees to plant new groves in temperate countries around the world means the growths have a better chance than most to become giants themselves," reports Quartz. "Their ancestors grew up to 400 ft (122 m) tall and to 35 ft in diameter, after all, larger than the largest living redwood today, a giant sequoia in California's Sequoia National Park." From the report: Already, super saplings from the project are thriving in groves in Canada, England, Wales, France, New Zealand, and Australia. None of these locales are places where coastal redwoods grow naturally, but they all have cool temperatures and sufficient fog for the redwoods, which drink moisture from the air in summer rather than relying on rain. [David Milarch, founder of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a U.S. nonprofit that propagates the world's largest trees] calls this "assisted migration." Last month, his organization planted another such grove in the Presidio in San Francisco, California. The park lies along the U.S. west's redwood corridor, which runs from Oregon to California, home to the stumps the saplings were cloned from. But 95% of giant growths there were cut long ago. Many of the redwoods along the corridor now are young trees. Milarch notes that as the local climate is getting hotter and less foggy, it's no longer as conducive to producing the mega growths of yore. Now, 75 saplings created from the basal sprouts of the most rugged and massive ancient tree stumps of the coastal region will grow in the Presidio. They may eventually become the hardiest and tallest trees around, if their ancestors are any indication.

Comments

lots of bad lingo hiding interesting article.

[gurps_npc]

To de-mystify:

Scientists are planting samples of giant Californian Redwood Trees, around the world in appropriate climates.

Global warming means California is no longer the best environment for them, so they are hand picking locations where it is the best environment.

Re:lots of bad lingo hiding interesting article.

[phantomfive]

They said dinosaur, climate change, clone, "super grove", "super trees," and probably giant redwoods to get everyone's intention.

It's hard to know what these people are actually trying to accomplish. The trees didn't die out because of climate change, their population was reduced because of logging, and there are lots of them growing now (mostly not as big, though). All up and down the coast of California, and even in the Sierra's, there are plenty of places for these trees to grow, and where they are growing.

Re:What would stop the greedy morons

[Rob Lister]

A redwood is a softwood, not a hardwood. But I get your overly cynical point.