CALIFORNIA FIRE SCORCHED REDWOODS SHOWS SIGNS OF REBIRTH WITH NEW SPROUTS

A terrible fire devastated California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park in August of 2020. The fire, which was started by lightning, caused unprecedented damage to the old trees. In its place stood massive blackened trunks in what had once been a verdant forest. Scientists were worried that this could spell the end for these trees as we know them.

However, months later, when the researchers revisited the area, they found that the bereft trees had grown buds hidden beneath their bark by using long-stored energy. The redwood trees' tenacity is exemplified by these green sprouts. Many seasoned scientists have been surprised by the research, which was just published in Nature Plants.

The redwoods lost their energy source when they lost their foliage to the unusually high flames of the fire. In order to photosynthesise into sugars and carbohydrates, which the plant uses for growth or stores for later use, the trees need sunlight. Melissa Enright of the U.S. Forest Service, one of the paper authors, decided to wrap 60 burnt tree trunks in black plastic to prevent them from using new light. The trees turned toward their inner reserves as a result.