Giant sequoias, the largest trees on Earth, are thriving in Britain, growing at a rate nearly equivalent to those found in their native range in California, researchers reported on Wednesday.
Introduced to British country estates as a 19th-century status symbol, there are now an estimated half a million sequoias, also known as giant redwoods, in the UK, compared with 80,000 in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.
California's specimens are under threat from more frequent and intense wildfires and climate-change-fuelled droughts. However, a report by Britain's Royal Society showed that giant sequoias in Britain are generally doing well.
Dr. Mathias Disney from University College London, one of the study's authors, explained, \"In the UK, our climate is more temperate, wetter, and so it is actually likely better suited to these trees in the long run.\"
Giant sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years and were originally introduced to Britain around the 1800s. They were planted in the grounds of grand estates, becoming a Victorian-era symbol of wealth due to their rarity.
Disney noted that while giant sequoias grow fast and provide benefits such as shade and carbon absorption, it is not yet known how they impact native biodiversity. \"There are a surprising amount of these trees in the UK, and they are doing very well in terms of their growth,\" Disney told Reuters. \"We shouldn't take them for granted even if they are relatively recent introduced species.\"
Reference(s):
Giant sequoias, world's largest trees, thriving in UK, report shows
cgtn.com
