August 25, 2012 - Redwood

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Adak

Very huge and majestic. What most folk don't realize is that a mature Redwood forest like this, will support very few plants and animals. Once the Redwood tree's start blocking out the sunlight, and contaminating the forest floor with it's dead needle litter (which prevents nearly all species from germinating). The forest animals have to move on. Their food can't grow there, anymore.

It's more appropriate to say it's "quiet as a graveyard", instead of "quiet as a cathedral", in a mature Redwood forest.

There's plenty of life going on up in the canopy.

[Adak]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

There's plenty of life going on up in the canopy.

I lived near, ran in, and camped in redwood forests for 20 years. Mature redwood forest are a near desert of life, compared to area's where sunlight (even dappled), is allowed to reach the forest floor, and the redwood "duff" (needles it sheds), can't poison the earth.

The "Wonderful world of the mature redwood forest" crap you hear from the ecologists, is just that -- crap.

Ranks right up there with "let's spend our way out of debt".

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

There's plenty of life going on up in the canopy.

Sequoia canopy.

[xoxoxoBruce]

One important animal that lives in the redwood forest canopy is the Clouded Salamander... snip

Neither that article, nor any others I can find, tell why this thing is important. Hyperbole I guess.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

There's plenty of life going on up in the canopy.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Neither that article, nor any others I can find, tell why this thing is important. Hyperbole I guess.

It tips the balance of "life going on up in the canopy" from "some" to "plenty".

[xoxoxoBruce]

That still doesn't say why the Clouded Salamander is "important".