California’s biggest trees are doing a disappearing act, and researchers say the disturbing pattern may be strongly driven by climate change.
A study published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the state’s big trees — those measuring more than 2 feet in diameter — have declined by more than 50 percent since the 1930s across 46,332 square miles of the state’s forests.
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Junction Meadow Jeffrey pine grove on High Sierra Trail. (Flickr/Miguelvieira)
Big trees are especially susceptible to drought, though the researchers aren’t sure exactly why. But as National Geographic notes, the study doesn’t take into account the effects California’s current drought may have had on big trees, as the most recent forest census was completed before the dry period began in 2011.
