"Giant Sequoias Grow Faster With Age"

Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic

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Written By:

Christy Ullrich

National Geographic News

Published December 5, 2012

Older and aging giant sequoia trees are growing faster than ever, on average producing more wood in old age then they did when they were younger. Other long-lived trees such as coast redwoods and Australia's Eucalyptus regnans also reveal an increase in wood production after numerous years. "That may be because a tree's leaf area increases as its crown expands over a long life span. The leaves produce more sugars through photosynthesis...and these sugars build wood across a growing cambium, or the living surface separating bark and wood in trees."

A team led by Steve Sillett, a professor at Humboldt State University, recently measured the President, a 3,200-year-old giant sequoia tree in California's Sequoia National Park. Through climbing and measuring, they calculated that the 247-foot-tall tree holds more than 54,000 cubic feet of wood and bark, earning it the title of second largest tree on Earth.

Trees have always been a natural aspect of humans' need for resources. If it it fact that certain species produce more wood and bark at an older age, then perhaps these trees could be harvested from at a specific rate rather than simply being chopped down.

- Andrew