Ecological Memory in the Coastal Redwoods: Insights on Emerging Threats in the Face of a Changing Landscape

Abstract

The Coastal Redwoods range is a unique ecosystem with which spans from mid-California to the Oregon border. This review considers the various disturbance regimes endemic to the Coastal Redwoods within the framework of ecological memory: how the forest builds its information and material legacies allows insight as to how it will respond to changes in the historic disturbance regimes. The relationship between fog and drought stress is analyzed, revealing impacts of drought stress on redwoods and relative vegetation. Spread of Sudden Oak Death and its causal agent Phytopthera ramorum throughout the Coastal Redwoods range is considered, as well as its potential future impact on forest fire. This paper reviews the importance of considering the interactions between disturbance regimes to reveal changing dynamics, citing the impact of the simultaneous synchronous spread of Sudden Oak Death and drought stress induced by loss of fog as potential contributors to increased fire severity.