Giants really do exist, and they live in forests across the world.
The world's tallest trees play a vital role in the health of the ecosystems they live in. The sentinels of the woodlands, these mighty beings help to nurture acres of forest beneath them, fixing carbon and sharing it through their roots.
They really are magnificent.
Sadly, the forest giants are under threat. Recently, ecologists have noted a global decline in the world's large, old trees.
This due to deforestation and fragmentation of forested areas. Trees die off far more easily at the edge of forests, and the oldest and tallest trees die off disproportionately fast without the protection of their smaller kin.
This threatens the entire forest. While only 2% of most forests are the largest, most ancient trees, they make up about 25% of forest biomass.
Which is really saddening. This got some attention around 2012, but since then it seems like most people have forgotten all about it.
Here's a Guardian article with a bunch more information about this:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jan/26/giant-trees-dying
I may have fallen down a rabbit hole reading up about giant sequoias, after I got those seeds yesterday. Did you know that under ideal conditions, the giant sequoia is one of the fastest growing trees in the world?
Now I kinda want to plant trees everywhere... 🌲
@InvaderXan How long would it take to get to full size?
@InvaderXan So, we're looking at about a third of a meter of growth a year in ideal conditions?
@Surasanji
On average. In their first year, they'll still be tiny, but they can grow over a metre in their third year. I think they slow down again later on, as they start to expend more energy growing outwards.
@Surasanji
An average I've seen is that they take about 150 years to grow 50 m tall, though it depends on their environment. They slow down when they reach full sunlight above the forest canopy.
But they're some of the longest lived organisms on the planet, and I don't think they ever truly stop growing. They've been known to live for over 3500 years!