ghostsofevolution | CTL 9i - Coast Redwoods Assisted Migration - Collecting,Testing, and Dispersing Seeds Northward @ghostsofevolution | Uploaded March 2020 | Updated October 2024, 8 minutes ago.
This is the 9th (and possibly final) installment in Connie Barlow's video series advocating human assistance in helping the Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, advance some 300 miles northward to track ongoing climate change. Here she includes video of collecting fresh cones October 2019 at one site in California and two horticultural plantings in Oregon — north of the tree's current range in the wild. Next comes the seed germination experiments, which suggest that cones gathered from the horticultural planting in Portland Oregon contained far more viable seeds (10 to 13%) compared to cones gathered from Medford Oregon (2%) and near Orick CA (1%).
The rest of the video analyzes results, along with a summary of practical information gathered in the field and online, thus encouraging development of "best practices" for large-scale interventions in moving this ancient, relict tree species poleward — into zones of coastal Washington that mimic the fog-rich habitats of northern California where redwoods are currently native.
Surveys of existing northward horticultural plantings, along with Barlow's own experience (1) in forests of coastal Washington, (2) in Redwood old and regrowth forests of northern California, and (3) in undertaking poleward translocation of an endangered conifer in the eastern USA (Florida Torreya), have led her to hypothesize that casting redwood seeds into patches of Sword Fern may offer an easy technique and ideal micro-habitat for "free-planting" seeds directly into regrowth forest. This hypothesis draws from the paradigm of rewilding, as well as the deep-time perspective (paleoecological science) that reminds us that redwoods have been transiting north and south for tens of millions of years in accordance with the slow pace of natural climate shifts. See Barlow's 1999 essay "Rewilding for Evolution" and her 2009 chapter "Deep-Time Lags: Lessons from Pleistocene Ecology" accessible here: thegreatstory.org/CB-writings.html
As always, Barlow grounds quantitative results within a systems (rather than mechanistic) frame of ecological science. Observations, hypotheses, and hesitations emerge from Barlow's natural-history-style encounters with the species in its wild native habitats, poleward horticultural plantings, and (in two Seattle-area examples) "recipient" regrowth forests into which horticultural plantings have successfully launched a next generation — with no additional human help.
The last quarter of the video overlays Barlow's audio presentation of information with video and photos she collected over the years of (a) Coast Redwood in natural and horticultural settings and (b) glimpses of actual seed-casting dispersal of the newly gathered seeds into regrowth forested areas (rich in sword ferns and under deciduous canopies) at the south end of Whidbey Island, northwest of Seattle.
UPDATE: In Week 6 of the final seed germination experiment, Portland Tree #2 germinated 3 more seeds, bringing its total germination rate from 13% to 15%.
October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html
Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America
Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html
The citizens helping Florida Torreya move north volunteer as Torreya Guardians. Fifteen years of advocacy, actions, results, and recognition are documented at this website (for which Connie Barlow serves as webmaster): torreyaguardians.org
One immense webpage on that site is where Barlow has been documenting (for 12 years) the scholarly papers and news articles that initially debated the "assisted migration" controversy. In recent years, scholarship has trended toward practical action rather than abstract argument. This is especially true for the fields of forestry and urban landscaping. Learn more and do internal "Finds" to access sections of this vast annotated list of entries that best suit your educational needs: torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html
This is the 9th (and possibly final) installment in Connie Barlow's video series advocating human assistance in helping the Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, advance some 300 miles northward to track ongoing climate change. Here she includes video of collecting fresh cones October 2019 at one site in California and two horticultural plantings in Oregon — north of the tree's current range in the wild. Next comes the seed germination experiments, which suggest that cones gathered from the horticultural planting in Portland Oregon contained far more viable seeds (10 to 13%) compared to cones gathered from Medford Oregon (2%) and near Orick CA (1%).
The rest of the video analyzes results, along with a summary of practical information gathered in the field and online, thus encouraging development of "best practices" for large-scale interventions in moving this ancient, relict tree species poleward — into zones of coastal Washington that mimic the fog-rich habitats of northern California where redwoods are currently native.
Surveys of existing northward horticultural plantings, along with Barlow's own experience (1) in forests of coastal Washington, (2) in Redwood old and regrowth forests of northern California, and (3) in undertaking poleward translocation of an endangered conifer in the eastern USA (Florida Torreya), have led her to hypothesize that casting redwood seeds into patches of Sword Fern may offer an easy technique and ideal micro-habitat for "free-planting" seeds directly into regrowth forest. This hypothesis draws from the paradigm of rewilding, as well as the deep-time perspective (paleoecological science) that reminds us that redwoods have been transiting north and south for tens of millions of years in accordance with the slow pace of natural climate shifts. See Barlow's 1999 essay "Rewilding for Evolution" and her 2009 chapter "Deep-Time Lags: Lessons from Pleistocene Ecology" accessible here: thegreatstory.org/CB-writings.html
As always, Barlow grounds quantitative results within a systems (rather than mechanistic) frame of ecological science. Observations, hypotheses, and hesitations emerge from Barlow's natural-history-style encounters with the species in its wild native habitats, poleward horticultural plantings, and (in two Seattle-area examples) "recipient" regrowth forests into which horticultural plantings have successfully launched a next generation — with no additional human help.
The last quarter of the video overlays Barlow's audio presentation of information with video and photos she collected over the years of (a) Coast Redwood in natural and horticultural settings and (b) glimpses of actual seed-casting dispersal of the newly gathered seeds into regrowth forested areas (rich in sword ferns and under deciduous canopies) at the south end of Whidbey Island, northwest of Seattle.
UPDATE: In Week 6 of the final seed germination experiment, Portland Tree #2 germinated 3 more seeds, bringing its total germination rate from 13% to 15%.
October 2021 Barlow collaborated with the Seattle-based "1000 Redwoods Project" in producing a photo-rich webpage to help Pacific NW planters of donated Coast Redwoods find the best habitats and microsites: "Finding Good Redwood Habitat in Coastal Pacific Northwest" at thegreatstory.org/redw/redwood-habitat.html
Also in 2021 Barlow collaborated on a new wikipedia page rich in background and linked sources: "Assisted Migration of Forests in North America" at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_migration_of_forests_in_North_America
Access annotated list of the full "Climate, Trees, and Legacy" video series by Connie Barlow, in which she advocates for assisted migration poleward of native trees in the USA, region by region: thegreatstory.org/climate-trees-legacy.html
The citizens helping Florida Torreya move north volunteer as Torreya Guardians. Fifteen years of advocacy, actions, results, and recognition are documented at this website (for which Connie Barlow serves as webmaster): torreyaguardians.org
One immense webpage on that site is where Barlow has been documenting (for 12 years) the scholarly papers and news articles that initially debated the "assisted migration" controversy. In recent years, scholarship has trended toward practical action rather than abstract argument. This is especially true for the fields of forestry and urban landscaping. Learn more and do internal "Finds" to access sections of this vast annotated list of entries that best suit your educational needs: torreyaguardians.org/assisted-migration.html
