Seed Collection

Ancient forests cannot persist into the future without ongoing regeneration. The health and long-term survival of ancient forests is becoming less certain due to new and emerging threats to natural regeneration in forests around the planet. The mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, home to magnificent giant sequoia, are no exception. Climate change, drought, severe wildfires, insects and pathogens present novel threats to the health of these globally significant forests.

More than a century of fire suppression and industrial logging have increased the risk of high-severity fire in forests that evolved with and are adapted to frequent mixed severity fire. Native bark beetles are also now emerging as a novel impact on previously impervious giant sequoias weakened by severe fire and drought. Normally considered to be highly resistant to fire, in two years alone (2020-2021) up to 19% of mature giant sequoia trees perished in severe wildfires, eliminating an important component of sequoia genetic heritage and a critical seed source for regeneration. Seed production is also becoming less reliable due to climatic changes and wildfire.

In the face of these burgeoning and interacting threats, the need for collecting seed for genetic banking and reforestation efforts is more important than ever. Ancient Forest Society, in partnership with One Tree Planted and State and National Parks is collecting giant sequoia seed throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains to help meet this need. Once collected and processed, the seeds will remain safely stored until they are needed. In the first year of this program we collected over 7.6 million giant sequoia seeds from 60 trees in 10 different groves.