Transcript:
In 2024, Hugh Safford, an ecologist at the University of California, Davis, went backpacking in the Sierra Nevada.
On Mount Kaweah, at about 12,000 feet, he stopped to take in the view. He saw lodgepole and foxtail pines.
Safford: “And then I saw something else, and I thought, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, there’s no way.’ And I walked over, and it was a Jeffrey pine.”
In the Sierra Nevada, Jeffrey pines typically grow at elevations from 6,000 to 9,000 feet.
But as the climate warms, scientists expect they’ll be able to survive at higher elevations.
It’s too soon to know if Safford’s discovery is part of that trend. But he’s since found multiple Jeffrey pines above 12,000 feet.
The seeds were likely carried there by a bird called the Clark’s nutcracker. Safford says in the past, the seeds would probably have failed to germinate.
But as temperatures rise, seeds stashed at higher elevations may have a greater chance to sprout.
The trees Safford found have no cones, so they will not reproduce.
Safford: “Clearly, they’re right on the edge of where they can survive.”
But the discovery is a sign of a changing ecosystem, and researchers are working to understand what it means for the future of these trees in a warmer world.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
