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Comment by ed25519FUUU | Hacker News Reader

“Withstand” is a funny word. Forests need fire. Fire is destructive to the organs (flora and fauna) but beneficial to the organism (a forest).

I’m thinking of all of the sequoia seeds, now germinated from the fire[1], that will sprout next year into full sunlight that hasn’t touched the forest floor in hundreds of years.

It is sad though that it’s also destructive to the lives of so many people. May everyone find safety who is now in harm’s way.

1. https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/why-the-giant-sequoia-n...

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Note that the trees in question are Coastal Redwoods, not Giant Sequoias, in Big Basin, maybe five miles from the coast, near sea level. They are TALL trees, with some over 300 feet tall.

The Giant Sequoias in the article you linked are in the Sierra Nevada mountains, at a few thousand feet elevation and a couple hundred miles from the coast. They are MASSIVE trees, truly awe-inspiring, a bit shorter than the Coastal Redwoods but with trunks 30 feet across.

I don't think Coastal Redwoods have any trouble propagating or germinating. I have one in my back yard. Apparently they can be germinated in tap water. https://www.treeseedonline.com/blog/germination-of-coast-red...

Giant Sequoias, on the other hand, I view as truly irreplaceable. Some are over 3,000 years old. I hope we can protect them as long as possible.

The two species are cousins, but it's important to differentiate between the two.

Pedantically it ain’t so straight forward. Coastal redwoods are taxonomically in genus Sequoia while giant sequoias are in genus Sequoiadendron. And of course “pedantry“ is the answer to “What is the practical utility of learning Latin?”

> It is sad though that it’s also destructive to the lives of so many people.

Eh, maybe it's just me but I've always felt worse for the animals than the people.

Probably just you.

People are animals and also part of nature, no matter how far above it we think that we are.

There shouldn’t be any Sequoia seeds in the Basin. They’re much further inland.

I don't know about sequoias but some species' seeds need to "feel the heat" before they can germinate. For example acacias in Australia, if you just sow the seeds the germination rate is very poor. The trick is to put the seeds under boiling water before sowing them...

I know that for some species of cycads people actually burn hay in the crown to induce fruition.

The forest needs fire but the individual trees certainly don't like it

Um, there aren’t any giant sequoias in the areas impacted by these fires. The range for giant sequoias is a few hundred miles to the East, on the slopes of the Sierras. They don’t grow in the coastal mountains.

FYI, 12,000 acres are on fire in the Sequoia National Forest, where giant sequoias grow.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7048/

the fire is moving away from the nearest Sequoia grove near Freeman Creek. wind forecast looks alright too.

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