Daniel J. Miller's Life History and Ecological Guide to the Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens.

Notes and comments by Joan Zimmerman on Life History and Ecological Guide to the Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens by Daniel J. Miller.

This report refers to the first edition, made available August 2005.

• Outline of the text.
• Comments.
• Availability.

Outline of the text.

Miller provides a detailed report on the life and ecological of the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Relevant to any student of the Coast Redwood, this document looks at a patch of redwoods at the southern end of Sequoia sempervirens's coastal range. This patch is the Mangels Ranch Area of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.

Miller's document includes:

• 116 pages of text.

• A profusion of clear and attractive line-drawings and diagrams by Miller. Highlights are:
  1. The front cover with illustrations of a redwood sapling, a youthful redwood with uplifted branches, and a mature redwood with thickener trunk and down-turned branches.
  2. Figures 1 and 2: Plans of Mangels Ranch Area and the lower are of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. An additional map is needed, to place the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in the Sequoia sempervirens's coastal range. Figure 5 shows Santa Cruz county, but that is not soon enough or sufficient.
  3. Figure 4.1, a beautiful presentation of the seeds and needles of the redwood.
  4. Figure 4.2, the Omega residual old-growth redwood. Features illustrated by the Omega include:
     • Buttress
     • Fire cavity.
     • Reiteration.
     • Self-pruning.
     • Sprout ring.
     • Trunk burl.
     • Twisted or spiral bark (relatively rare).
     • Woodpecker granary (no longer active on this example).
  5. Figure 4.3, Piggyback redwood nurse tree.
  6. Figure 4.4, cross-section of 25-inch diameter tree.
  7. Figures 4.5 to 4.11 show a variety of tree structures, three of which are reproduced on the cover page.
  8. Figure 4.17, a demonstration of the healing process of a redwood to a buttress injury received 61 years earlier.

• The first handful of pages show the reasons for the guide and its scope:

• Tables 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 85-86) list the Mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds observed in the studied area in the last four decades.

• Tables 4 and 5 (pp. 87-88) are partial lists of the common native plants and the introduced invasive plants.

Comments.

Availability.

Currently available in the libraries of Santa Cruz county.

In 2006 made available at http://www.thatsmypark.org/. Look for Life History and Ecological Guide to the Coast Redwood on the left side of the main page.

Links and References.

• Home and Index of Articles.
• Review of Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis by Michael Williams.
• Review of America's Ancient Forests: by Thomas M. Bonnicksen.
• Species:
  1. Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).
  2. Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).
  3. Pine Trees - Your 60-Second Guide to Naming your Pine.
  4. Got Conifer - How You Can Tell What Kind of Conifer You Have.

Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

[Thanks for visiting.]

Copyright © 2005-2007 by Joan Zimmerman.