in sequoia groves varies between 45 and 60 inches, but the soil’s ability to hold moisture throughout the typically dry summers is perhaps more important to the sequoia’s long-term survival.
Although the sequoia has an extensive root system, the roots are generally shallow in relation to their immense size. Most mature trees meet their ultimate demise, not from the more common maladies of forest fire, disease, or insect infestation but from simply toppling over.
Thick bark makes the sequoia highly resistant to both insects and fire. Typically, the only insult a forest fire leaves on a giant sequoia is a black scar on the lower trunk. Forest fires help giant sequoias propagate. Their small cones require extreme heat in order to open and release their oatmeal-size seeds. Fire also clears the forest floor, making way for the tiny sequoia seedlings and minimizing competition with other plants for moisture and light. Although fire suppression was the rule of the past for park and forest management, modern-day foresters use controlled burns in sequoia groves and elsewhere in the forest to restore this natural process and reduce the accumulation of fuels that could produce unnaturally intense wildfires.
Animal Life: The animals in giant sequoia groves are similar to those found in the montane forest.
Red Fir Forest
Plant Life: Unlike the mixture of trees in the montane forest, the stately red fir is often the sole species in the climax forest on the west slope of the Sierra. Growing to heights between 60 and 130 feet, red fir is quite susceptible to lightning strikes. Mature specimens are between 2 and 4 feet wide, with maroon-brown bark with red furrows. Their branches sweep down and curve up at the end, bearing short, blue-green needles and 5- to 8-inch long cones.
The tall trees often form such dense cover that competitors and understory plants cannot survive—any plant that does grow in the red-fir zone must be shade tolerant. Where red-fir stands are less dense, associates may include lodgepole pine, western white pine, Jeffrey pine, western juniper, and quaking aspen (one small stand of mountain hemlock occurs in this zone in Sequoia National Park). White fir oftentimes intermingles with red fir along the lower end of this zone.
IDENTIFYING RED AND WHITE FIRS
The easiest way to differentiate a white fir from a red fir, which are similar in appearance, is by examining a tree’s bark. The bark on a mature red fir is maroon-brown, while white fir has grayish bark. Also, the slightly longer needles of the white fir are twisted at the base and have white lines; the shorter red fir needles are four-sided and not twisted.
Red fir prefers deep, well-drained soil and is found in the southern Sierra roughly between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, from Kern County northward. The species thrives in areas receiving the greatest amount or precipitation, usually in the form of winter snowfall.
Animal Life: Inhabitants of the higher elevations of the upper forest zones must adapt to more severe weather conditions and periodically scarce food supplies. Common amphibians in the red fir forest are limited to two varieties each of salamanders, frogs, and toads. Reptiles include the garter snake and three types of lizard.
Ordinary small mammals you might encounter in this zone include the deer mouse, pocket gopher, vole, shrew, broad-handed mole, pika, chipmunk, chickaree, Belding ground squirrel, golden-mantled ground squirrel, northern flying squirrel, beaver, white-tailed jackrabbit, and yellow-bellied marmot. Bats are commonly seen around lakes and meadows in the evening. Medium-size animals include the red fox, porcupine, coyote, long-tailed weasel, fisher, ermine, wolverine, badger, and pine marten. The Sierra bighorn sheep lives in this zone but is very reclusive. Black bear and mule deer are the most common large mammals.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are quite numerous in the southern Sierra, since their main predators, the grizzly bear and the wolf, are now extinct in California. Mountain lions are their most common predators today. Starvation and disease are the most common causes of death for mule deer. Mature males may exceed 200 pounds. Each March, males shed their antlers and start to regrow them again in April.
Although not as numerous as in the lower zones, a vast number of birds find a home in the upper forest belt. Among some of the more interesting species are the blue grouse, dipper, and mountain bluebird. The most common (and occasionally obnoxious) bird known to backpackers is the Steller’s jay, whose bold exploits to snatch human food has earned it the nickname “camp robber.”
Lodgepole Pine Forest
Plant Life: Perhaps no tree is more closely associated with the High Sierra than the lodgepole pine. Found between 8,000 and 11,000 feet in the southern Sierra, this versatile conifer with pale gray bark flourishes in soils where red fir struggles because the soil is either too wet or too dry. In stark contrast to the red fir, which is almost exclusively found in California, the two-needled lodgepole pine is one of the most widespread trees in the American West. Typically tall and thin, they reach heights of 50 to 100 feet, and their cones are 1 to 2 inches long.
Although commonly found in exclusive stands, the lodgepole also intermingles with western white pine and whitebark pine in the higher elevations and red fir in the lower elevations. Quaking aspen and lodgepole oftentimes grow together in areas that have plentiful groundwater. On the east side of the range, lodgepole pines are common between 9,000 and 11,000 feet, where the western white pine is the most common associate.
Animal Life: Animals found in the lodgepole pine forest are similar to those found in the red fir forest.
Subalpine Zone
Plant Life: Roughly occurring between 9,500 and 12,000 feet, the subalpine zone straddles the Sierra Crest and bridges the gap between the mighty forest of the lower elevations and the austere realm above timberline.
The most common conifer in this zone is the interesting foxtail pine, with its characteristic pendulous branches. This five-needled pine is similar in appearance to the bristlecone pine. The foxtail pine grows only in Inyo and Tulare Counties in the southern Sierra and in the Klamath Mountains of northern California. Mature specimens reach heights between 20 and 45 feet, and they bear purplish, prickly cones 2 to 5 inches long. Foxtail pines occasionally can be found in pure stands along the eastern fringe of Sequoia National Park and along the Kern River. The most common associate is the majestic whitebark pine, an oftentimes multitrunked tree that survives the harsh conditions just below timberline, sometimes in the form of a windblown shrub. Less common associates include western white, lodgepole, and limber pines.
Forests are but one part of the diverse subalpine zone. Mountain lakes, craggy peaks, and granite-covered slopes are common features of the subalpine landscape, as are numerous grass-and-sedge-covered meadows harboring a vast array of midsummer wildflowers.
Meadow on the Lone Pine Creek Trail (Trip 14)
Animal Life: Animals found in the subalpine zone are similar to those found in the red fir forest.
Alpine Zone
Plant Life: The alpine zone occurs at the highest elevations in the Sierra, where the growing season is measured in weeks rather than months. Harsh conditions characterize this zone, with lower temperatures and cloudier skies allowing snow to linger longer than in other zones, despite the fact that the alpine zone receives less snowfall. At elevations above 12,000 feet, frost can occur at any time during the summer, and cool temperatures, nearly constant winds, and a significant lack of precipitation produce desertlike conditions. Generally poor, granitic
