This is One of the Rarest Forests on our Planet, and Yet One of the Most Widespread

This is one of the rarest forests on our planet. I know of a number of different species that are represented by extremely limited habitats; there are the Dawn Redwoods of China (a grove of maybe 5,000 individuals), the Wollemia "Pine" of Australia (only a 100 or so in the wild), and the Ginkgo biloba (a few scattered possibly wild groves). But I also have a rare native tree in my own backyard, one that is found in just five widely scattered groves: on Cedros and Guadalupe Islands offshore of Baja Mexico, and in Cambria and Ano Nuevo along the California Coast. The fifth, the one I visited this last weekend, is here on the Monterey Peninsula, south of San Francisco.

Natural distribution of the Monterey Pine (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/montereypines_01)

The species is, strangely enough, the Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata). The pine is well known to many as a Christmas tree species or as a landscaping ornamental, and it is grown as a lumber species on some 10 million acres worldwide, mainly in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, and Chile. It's a common tree. And also practically unrecognizable in its own native habitat. The trees that are grown for timber, landscaping and Christmas are highly modified organisms in the genetic sense (GMOs). They look little like the spindly knotted trees that grow on their native landscape.

We may often prefer to choose "organic" or "natural" foods for our diet, but practically none of the foods that we grow for our consumption look much like their wild forbears. Bananas, for instance, were practically inedible with giant seeds. Corn was little more than a grass, as was wheat. But these practically inedible natural species have a great value to our civilization: genetic diversity.

Our food supply is vulnerable to disruption from any number of diseases and disorders: such things as fungi, bacteria or viruses could kill off vast sectors of our agricultural products because they are genetically homogeneous. The currently favored banana variety, for instance, may be wiped out in just a few years by a  fungus. 

And so it is with the Monterey Pine. Silvicultural methods have taken the pine and transformed it into a rapidly growing tree with few knots in the lower two-thirds of the tree. But the pines that grow on plantations across the world do not have the genetic diversity of the forests in the isolated stands in California and the Baja islands.

The native groves of Monterey Pine are under environmental assault, from development pressures, and from disease. The Pitch Canker fungus weakens the trees, making them susceptible to beetle attack. There is not much in the way of a coordinated treatment for the trees. None of the native groves are on protected federal land, and only one grove is within a state park. For the most part the native groves exist at the pleasure of the private corporations that own the land.  

Although they have been far too willing to cut down Monterey Pine forests to make villas and golf courses, the corporation that owns the forests in these pictures knows it has some fiscal responsibility to its shareholders to preserve some intact forests of these trees. They make a lot of money charging tourists like myself who pay $10 to follow Seventeen Mile Drive to see the forests along with the beautiful coastline, the wildflowers, and the mansions of the rich inhabitants of the area. 

Strangely enough, the Monterey Peninsula plays hosts to more than one extremely rare native forest. The Monterey Cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa) is found in natural groves only at Cypress Point on the peninsula, and at Point Lobos State Reserve. The trademarked tree called the "Lone Cypress" is perhaps the most famous single tree in the California (I think the sadly deceased Jeffrey Pine on the summit of Sentinel Dome in California was a close competitor for the honor). Like the pine, it has become widespread due to planting as an ornamental.

For more on the evolution and distribution of the Monterey Pine, see http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/montereypines_01.

Where the Sierrra Nevada Rises From the Sea: A Quick Explore of the Monterey Peninsula

We've been exploring the most beautiful coastline in the world, and in the last post we were looking at a spectacular conglomerate, the Carmelo Formation, which formed in submarine canyons off the coast of California. The rocks exposed in the cliffs formed in the Sierra Nevada magmatic arc, but were sliced off and moved north along the San Andreas fault some 200 miles or more. Today we finish at Point Lobos and briefly explore part of the Monterey Peninsula.

The south end of Point Lobos includes China Cove and a beautiful sea arch with jade colored water. Jointing in the granitic rock allows the waves to exploit weaknesses to form coves, and arches can form along narrow headlands. Once formed the arches will increase in size until they collapse, isolating the headland as a sea stack or small island. It takes only a few feet of deep water to protect an island from terrestrial predators, so birds will nest there. In July the Brandt's Cormorants formed large groups that made me imagine penguins near Antarctica. The white bird droppings complete the illusion, resembling snow!

As we headed north along the highway, we encountered Seventeen Mile Road on the Monterey Peninsula. It is a toll road, passing through lots of private neighborhoods, but the appeal of the road is undeniable, so I will grant them a bit of free publicity. Where the cliffs at Point Lobos tended to be broken up by the stresses of nearby fault zones, the rocks on the peninsula are more solid, and wave erosion accents the joint patterns in the granitic rock.

Two unique species of tree grow on the Monterey Peninsula, the Monterey Cypress, and the Monterey Pine. Both of them have a very limited native range, the Pine in five groves along the coast, and the cypress in only two, at Point Lobos and Cypress Point on Seventeen Mile Drive. Although I refused to take a picture of it, a huge cypress on a headland along the drive is one of the most famous trees in the world. The poor tree has had all manner of wires and cables attached to keep the tree standing, and cement walls protect the base. I just sort of feel like the poor thing is abused, kept alive by extraordinary measures instead of letting nature do her thing.

The cypress trees, both alive and dead, make a marvelous counterpoint to the white granitic boulders along the coastline.

The Monterey Pine is the most widely planted commercial pine in the world. Some 10 million acres across the globe, especially in Australia and New Zealand, have been planted and are producing lumber. Most people would be surprised to learn just how limited the original forest is, just two islands off of Baja Mexico, at Cambria and Ano Nuevo on the California Coast, and on the Monterey Peninsula.

A large swath of forest has actually been preserved as a more or less wilderness grove, quite a surprise given the private landholdings. Developments still threaten the forest, but even worse is a fungus (pine pitch canker) that is killing large numbers of trees. It would be tragic to lose the trees, as the natural stands possesses far more genetic diversity than the plantings around the world.

The toll road climbs to a high point that offers views of the coast north of Monterey (when there is no fog). It was a pleasant drive through this uniquely Californian forest.

There is a fine description of the evolution of the Monterey Pine at http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/montereypines_01, and an article on the Monterey Cypress at: http://www.pointlobos.org/nature/plant-communities/monterey-cypress-evolution. It makes interesting reading!

Up next: we jump across the Golden Gate!