By Jeanne Wetzel Chinn
Chair, Redwood Chapter
Forest Committee
Historically, California’s forests have been part of natural ecosystems in a constant state of ebb and flow through natural cyclical disturbances. For example, redwoods once grew throughout the northern hemisphere. As earth’s climate gradually cooled, distribution of these giants shrank to a limited range along the Northern California/Southern Oregon coasts where climate remains temperate and humid; conditions remain suitable. These giants became known as our coastal redwoods. Their larger relatives, giant sequoia, continue to grow in isolated groves in the Sierras. Both redwood species and their ecosystems are accustomed to fire as a factor in establishing succession associated with these cyclical disturbances.
Under natural conditions, individual species/ecosystems have evolved to exist in a somewhat stable equilibrium. This equilibrium, resulting from ongoing interactions between conditions in the physical world with genetic flexibility of each individual organism, increases the probability of habitat survival over a long period of time. Species/ecosystems with higher likelihoods of persistence, especially under changing conditions, can be described as being more resilient.
When Europeans came to North America, Native Americans had been interacting with the California landscape for millennia. The effects of those interactions were of low intensity and natural communities were able to adapt (as far as we know) to their actions. The results were ecosystems in balance with human populations on the landscape.
European arrival brought rapid extraction of resources that fueled economic growth, albeit for a blink in time. Along with recent historic reduced control burns, the effects on species/ecosystems increased well beyond natural variation conditions within pre-European management. Resulting conditions challenge the adaptability of individual species/ecosystems as a whole. Will they evolve fast enough to survive?
California’s forests are amazingly flexible and, given time and mindful management, they can be restored to more resilient conditions. However, there’s a limit to how fast organisms can evolve with conditions out of balance from mismanagement, plus adapting to a warming climate. It depends on their genetic makeup and our next actions.
Can we envision a forest management future striving to mitigate the effects of mismanagement and climate change?
Biodiversity provides a depth of resilience. Forest management should look to historic ecosystem conditions to develop resiliency conditions that have passed the test of time, while considering other stressful changing environmental conditions.
We need to set a course of increasing resiliency through adaptive management that provides for biodiversity, wildlife habitat, clean water, carbon sequestration, economical products, and spiritual inspiration.