I have been preparing for a presentation at the Northern California Symposium of Botanists in January. The title of the talk is “Climate Change and the High Elevation Conifers of the Klamath Mountains” which is based on a literature review I wrote last year.
As I was digging through old pictures preparing for the talk and I came across video I shot this summer but had forgotten about–so I processed it. What follows is a 10 minute exploration of three foxtail pine groves in the Klamath Mountains.
Foxtail Pines across the Klamath Mountains | July 2010 from Michael Kauffmann on Vimeo.
Changing climates have perpetuated shifts in the biogeographic distribution of flora and fauna across landscapes for millennia. It is therefore important to consider how future environmental changes may affect the survival of species—both globally and regionally. The conifers of the Klamath Mountains are harbingers of change. Botanical diversity has been fostered in this ancient meeting ground as climatic conditions have shifted throughout the Cenozoic. The video explores several rare, spatially restricted, high elevation microsites of the Klamath Mountains where relict foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) still survive today.