Learning Through Redwoods

Welcome to our learning expedition about the California Coast Redwoods. We are the Project Citizen Action team at Empire Elementary School and we are exploring the California Coast Redwood and working to plant a small "grove" of five trees at our school site.

Our adventure began in October of 2007 when we took 90 people to visit Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. On our hike through this old growth forest we learned about the Coast Redwood ecosystem, the history of the redwoods in the area, and these magnificent trees in particular.

Since that time we have been doing a lot of research on the topic. We have been trying to find out what a Coast Redwood needs to grow successful in the Central Valley. This is a non-native in this habitat.
Karen Retford

Photo: Karen Retford, Big Basin State Park

Big Basin Redwoods Ecosystem

The California Coast Redwood is part of a complex ecosystem. Part of our study of this amazing tree included the other animals that share its space in the coast range. Since the majority of my students are 4th graders we focused on the Life Science Standards for this grade level. I put together a webquest using Power Point for the students to study the following component of this ecosystem: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Some of the common plants found the in Big Basin Redwoods State Park are the huckleberry, tan bark oak, redwood sorrel, and sword ferns. The huckleberry produces small bellshaped blossoms in the spring which turn into tiny berries. These berries were eaten by early settlers to the Santa Cruz mountains. They were also used by the indegenous Ohlone tribes that also lived in the area. The tan bark oak's acorns were used to make acorn meal. The redwood sorrel is found carpeting the redwood forest floor. It is a member of the Oxalis family and has violet tinged flowers, some confuse it for clover. The sword fern Polystichum munitum is also found in abundance on the moist forest floor. Its name polys—many, and stichos—a row, which refers to the way the sori is arranged and munitum means armed with teeth. Its rhizomes were boiled and eaten. The leaves were chewed to help relieve sore throats and tonsilitis.

One of the rarest animals is the Marbled Murrelet. This small sea bird makes its nests at the top of old growth trees. Since Big Basin is both near the Pacific and contains old growth trees, old growth trees are several hundred years old and have a diameter typically 4 to 10 feet. Another endangered species found in the watershed here is the coho salmon. They are found in Waddell creek. Mountain lions also live in Big Basin. They are rarely seen but they are there!

One of the most interesting creatures that lives in this habitat is the Banana Slug. This large decomposer who helps decompose the forest duff. Shelf mushrooms can be found clinging to the remains of douglas fir making humus of their rotting trunks.