GRADES

®
Redwoods 9-12
Coast Redwood

What’s the
Tallest Thing
You’ve Ever Seen?
 How would it measure up to a coast redwood tree?
The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the
world’s tallest tree species and among the
oldest living things.
Mature coast redwood trees often reach more than
320 feet tall and many of the tallest known trees
are more than 360 feet high. Coast redwoods can
reach these heights because they are very resistant
to disease and insects. The wood has a high level
of tannic acid, which is toxic to most insects. These
fascinating trees are named for the beautiful red
color of their bark and heartwood.

Coast Redwood Giant Sequoia 10- Story Building Apple Tree

Where Are Coast Redwoods Found?

Photo: Phil Schermeister

Coast redwood forests are very rare and grow naturally only in a narrow 450-mile
strip along the Pacific Ocean from central California to southern Oregon. More
than tall trees, a redwood forest is a complex set of ecosystems made up of
an astounding variety of living and once-living things.

How Old Are They?

Individual coast redwood trees can live for hundreds of years. In some areas
of their range, they can live more than 2,000 years. The oldest known coast
redwood tree was 2,200 years old.

How Do Redwoods Reproduce?

Redwoods are conifers, which means they have cones and needle-like
leaves. A coast redwood cone is about 1 inch long and contains 14 to 24 tiny
seeds about the size of a tomato seed. A single tree may produce millions of
seeds in a year. Only a small percentage of the seeds actually germinate and
Oregon
grow into seedlings.

Although coast redwoods can grow from seeds, they more commonly reproduce
from sprouts. New trees can sprout from the roots of parent trees, from buds
at the base of a tree or from a fallen tree. If a tree is cut or burned, a circle of
trees may sprout from the stump, forming a “fairy ring” of new trees.
Coast
Redwood
Range
Where Have Redwood Fossils Been Found?
Redwood trees are true “living fossils.” As a genus, redwoods have existed
California seemingly unchanged for millions of years. Redwood fossils older than 144
million years have been found throughout the western United States and
Canada and along the coasts of Europe and Asia. Close ancestors of the
coast redwood were living when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Pacific Ocean
Coast redwoods prefer mild year-round temperatures with winter rain and
heavy fog, a climate that was more common in earlier ages. The last ice
age limited coast redwoods to their present range along the coast of northern
California and southwestern Oregon.
 Photo: Phil Schermeister
How’s the Weather
Up There?
Imagine standing at the base of a coast redwood tree. If you
crane your neck and look up, you will just see the lowest branches
some 10 stories above you. If you peer even higher up, through It’s in the Genes
the distant branches and needles, you will hardly see the top of
the tree, which can be higher than a 37-story building. Just how Redwoods have more chromosomes than
can a coast redwood get so tall? most other cone-bearing trees, a fact that also
may help them grow tall. Chromosomes are
Trees continue to grow as long as they live — and coast redwoods the part of the cell that carries genes. Conifers
can live more than 2,000 years. However, age alone cannot usually have 20 to 24 chromosomes, but
fully explain the redwoods’ vast height because they are not the redwoods have 66 or more. That is because
oldest trees in the world. Some bristlecone pines in the White redwoods have six copies of each chromosome,
Mountains of California are more than 4,500 years old but while most conifers have two copies of each.
usually only grow to about 60 feet.
How does the number of chromosomes help
The coast redwoods’ environment plays a large part in why the redwoods grow? With six copies of each
they grow so tall. These trees live where the soil is very rich in chromosome, a single tree can have several
nutrients, where they are mostly protected from winds and where alternative forms of a gene. For example,
they receive lots of winter rain and summer fog. These conditions a tree may have two or even three different
allow them to thrive and grow to great heights. gene codes for an enzyme that helps the tree
fight a certain disease. This means that if a
Scientists now think that fog may be a critical reason for coast pest or disease tries to attack the tree, the
redwoods being so tall. Where the trees live, winters are very tree has a greater chance to protect itself. The
rainy, but there is very little rain the rest of the year. During healthier the tree, the more likely it is to grow.
the summer, however, a thick fog usually blankets the region.
Redwood trees are able to intercept this dense fog in their
crowns, where it condenses on their leaves.

The trees use this fog in a number of different ways. First, the
fog reduces the amount of water that the trees need because
they lose less water through their leaves when it is foggy. Second,
the trees can absorb the fog directly through the leaves, which is
an especially important source of water for young trees. Finally,
the condensed fog drips to the ground below the trees, where it
soaks in for later use.

With summer fog and winter rain, redwoods have water all year-
round — this may be the most important reason for their great
height.
 uskin K. Hartley
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Is the Spice of a Forest’s Life
Variety

e i st e r
Many people think a forest is just a bunch of trees that all look alike.
But a healthy forest is really about variety. An ancient coast redwood
forest has a mixture of different trees and shrubs that are many different
ages and sizes. This allows for a range of different animals and plants
to live in the forest. The greater the variety, the more diversity — and a
healthy community depends on diversity.

Many other tree species can live among the redwoods. Examples
of these are Douglas-firs, western hemlocks, grand firs, Sitka
spruces, tanoaks, madrones, maples and California bays.
g

Rhododendrons, dogwoods and ferns thrive underneath the trees,

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as do poison oak, huckleberry, hazel and many flowering herbs.

Redwood forests also support a large number of animal species,

including more than 200 different vertebrates. Frogs, salmon,
toads, salamanders, snakes, lizards, marbled murrelets,
sparrows, blackbirds, wood warblers, bats, squirrels, chipmunks,
mice, weasels, bear, deer and elk all can be found among
redwoods.
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 Explore
Compare the amount of tree cover in
your neighborhood to that in a nearby
park or nature area and to a redwood
forest. Find aerial maps of the areas

to : U S F W S
(terraserver.com and Google Earth are
possible free sources) and use grid
paper to estimate the percentage of

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each area that is covered by trees.
How do the areas compare? What does
your community do to maintain its
“urban forest”?

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Even redwood soil contains a wide variety of different

organisms. Surprisingly, soil can be found high in
the branches of the trees. This soil comes from the
huge quantity of leaves that the tree sheds each year,
some of which collect at the base of large branches
and decompose into soil. In studying these soil mats,
ndon Cole

scientists have found an astonishing number of plants

and animals, including beetles, crickets, earthworms,
millipedes, salamanders, various fungi, ferns and even
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young trees — all living hundreds of feet in the air.

to : ©
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The plants and animals in the redwood forest are

interdependent in many different ways. Scientists
now understand that these complex interactions are
crucial to the survival of the ancient redwood forest.
When roads, housing developments, power lines, logging
or trails isolate redwoods from other parts of the forest,
they are less likely to thrive. This is a concern because
most of the remaining ancient redwood forest is made
up of isolated groves.

Each element of the ancient forest is connected to

others in ways that we may never fully understand. To
save the remaining ancient redwoods, it is clear that we
have to save the forest as a whole instead of just saving
individual trees.

Get
Active
Learn More
Visit the Save the Redwoods
League Web site at
SaveTheRedwoods.org.
Find books about redwood trees or
ancient forests at a local library.
Inspire Others
Research different organizations
that work on forest issues and join
one you like. Send your redwood art,
poetry, photos or memories to Save
the Redwoods League, and we might
post them on our Web site!
Visit a Park
Plan a trip with your family to
a park or reserve in the ancient
redwood forest. See the Save the
Redwoods League Web site at
SaveTheRedwoods.org
for information on redwood parks
and reserves.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Trees are logged because there
is a demand for wood and paper
products. You can help reduce the
demand by reusing and recycling
paper, cardboard and wood at
home and at school.
Plant a Native Tree
Learn what kinds of trees are
native to your area and choose one
to plant. Find a location for the tree
that will allow it to grow for many
years. If you can’t plant a tree, find
a local group that will plant one
for you.
Photo: Humboldt Historical Society
Saving
the Coast
Redwood
Forest
The native people of California treated the
majestic coast redwoods with reverence.
They did not usually cut down national parks and reserves.
redwoods, but used fallen trees Much work remains to ensure
to make planks for houses and that future generations
hollowed-out logs for canoes. can enjoy these magnificent
There were 2 million acres
forests. Thousands of acres of
ancient redwood forest remain
of ancient coast redwoods in on private land and could still
California and Oregon before the be logged for lumber or for
1849 Gold Rush. Since then, real-estate development.
redwoods have been logged
for lumber and to make way The League also considers
for roads, houses and other climate change a serious
buildings. At first, there were so threat to coast redwoods. Many
many trees that people did not scientists are concerned
worry about cutting them down. that rising temperatures and
Today less than 5 percent of the changing weather patterns
original ancient forest remains. will reduce the coastal fog on
which redwoods depend and
Save the Redwoods League was may further limit the range of
founded in 1918 to protect these redwood forests. Together we
awe-inspiring trees. Over the are studying the potential
years, the League has purchased effects of climate change to
many thousands of acres of determine how best to protect
forestland and has helped to these amazing ecosystems.
develop dozens of state and
About Save the Redwoods League
Since 1918, Save the Redwoods ages experience these majestic
League has saved redwood forests trees through the forestlands we
so that people can be inspired by have helped protect and restore,
these precious natural wonders — the many education programs we
now and in the future. The League sponsor and our Web site.
and its partners help people of all
114 Sansome Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 362-2352
SaveTheRedwoods.org/Education