Coast Redwood Sky Gardens
Redwood National & State Parks, California, USA · North America · temperate_forest
About this place
Examine Sequoia sempervirens foliar fog uptake, canopy humus mats, and arboreal Aneides vagrans salamanders.
For kids: Craning your neck up Earth's tallest trees, discover secret rooftop fern gardens where sky-diving salamanders live!
Coast Redwood Sky Gardens · 360° Habitat Camp
What to look for
- Sky-island fern soil mat — Polypodium scouleri & Aneides vagrans. Scan the upper crown crotches supporting suspended fern soil mats
- Spongy fire-shield redwood bark — Tannin-rich bark & basal lignotuber burls. Centre the fluted trunk armoured in foot-thick, resin-free tannin bark
- Fog-drip redwood sorrel carpet — Oxalis oregana solar-tracking understory. Locate the shaded Oxalis understory hydrated by summer crown fog-drip
Source: Burgess & Dawson (2004), Plant, Cell & Environment; Spickler et al. (2006) — Redwood foliar fog uptake & canopy salamanders.
Ask together: How hard would it be to sip water through a straw thirty stories tall—and why does drinking fog right through top needles help?
Field quiz
Kids' question: How do giant coast redwoods get a refreshing drink during rainless California summers?
- They sip cool ocean fog droplets right through their high needles!
- Squirrels carry tiny buckets up the bark
- They walk down to the beach at night
Answer
They sip cool ocean fog droplets right through their high needles!
Adults' question: Why is foliar fog absorption vital for emergent Sequoia sempervirens shoots above 100 metres?
- Reverse sap flow through leaf cuticles bypasses gravitational xylem tension limits near 122–130 metres
- Salt crystals inside fog melt winter snow
- Redwoods shed all needles every July
- Roots drill straight into molten magma
Answer
Reverse sap flow through leaf cuticles bypasses gravitational xylem tension limits near 122–130 metres
360° photo: Ckoerner, CC BY-SA 4.0
See it live: Live check: California Coastal Fog & Surf Cam
- By day
- Brown pelicans gliding in marine fog banks, sea lions, & cormorants Warm inland valleys draw cool marine-layer stratus onshore each afternoon—the exact advective fog pump sustaining coast redwoods.
- By night
- Advective Pacific fog rolling ashore & rhythmic coastal surf Nocturnal stomatal and cuticular hydration peaks after dusk as relative humidity reaches saturation inside coastal groves.
Other language: Русский