Threats to Giant Sequoias
Mutch L. 2021. Threats to Giant Sequoias. National Park Service
This 4-page brief was created to provide information on recent threats to giant sequoias for seasonal park interpretive training in Yosemite National Park. The hotter drought of 2012-2016 appears to have been a tipping point for giant sequoias and other Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests. In hotter droughts, unusually high temperatures exacerbate the effects of low precipitation, resulting in greater water loss from trees and lower water availability. This is an emerging climate change threat to forests. This brief provides a brief overview of the following impacts associated with the hotter drought: • Extensive wildfires in giant sequoia groves and unprecedented fire-caused death of mature giant sequoias • Native bark beetles killing giant sequoias (not previously observed) • Widespread giant sequoia foliage dieback (primarily 2014) It also briefly discusses the January 2021 Mono wind event that toppled at least 15 large sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove.
- Type
- Resource Brief
- Authors
- Mutch, Linda
- Date of Issue
- 2021-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- SEKI , YOSE
- Keywords
- bark beetles, beetle kill, climate change, drought, fire, foliage dieback, giant sequoias, high severity fire, Mono wind event, Phloeosinus, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, tree mortality, Yosemite National Park
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Infestations and Disease | Insect Pests , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Extreme Disturbance Events | Extreme Disturbance Events