Ep. 398 - Tall Trees & the Habitats They Create
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2022
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tall trees are true marvels of nature in and of themselves, but the habitats they create can take our fascination and appreciation to whole new levels. Dr. Steve Sillett has spent his career climbing giant trees and uncovering remarkable insights into their ecologies. Join us for a celebration of tall trees and learn how we can better manage the forests they comprise. This episode was produced in part by Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensibleplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? I am doing phenomenal because my guest today is someone whose work I have looked up to for a very long time. You may have seen his name in the book The Wild Trees. Joining us is Dr. Steve Sillett. He studies tall trees. |
| 0:23.6 | You may be most familiar with his work on Redwoods, but he also includes giant sequoias, |
| 0:27.8 | Doug firs, eucalyptus. If it's a tall tree, he has a vested interest in it. And today we're |
| 0:32.6 | talking about the biology and ecology of these organisms and why they're so special. And what |
| 0:37.1 | he has learned |
| 0:37.6 | over years of studying them. This is an amazing conversation. I can't thank him enough for taking |
| 0:41.8 | time to talk with me. So let's just jump right into it. Without further ado, here's my conversation |
| 0:46.4 | with Dr. Steve Sillett, it is so great to have you on the podcast. |
| 1:05.9 | I have been a huge fan of your work for a long time. |
| 1:08.3 | But for those who haven't heard about your work, let's start |
| 1:10.8 | off with an introduction. Tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what it is you do. |
| 1:15.4 | Well, I'm a professor at Forestry Department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and my main interest is in |
| 1:21.9 | tall trees and forests. I began studying old growth forests when I was a student at Reed College up in Portland, Oregon, back in the 80s. |
| 1:32.3 | And then I went and did some master's degree work at University of Florida, where I worked in a cloud forest. |
| 1:41.0 | Then I came to back to the Pacific Northwest, and I went to Oregon State University, |
| 1:46.0 | and I studied Old Growth Douglas Forest again, looking at lichens that live in the canopy of these forests that are very poorly represented outside of the old growth. |
| 1:55.8 | And we were trying to figure out how we might be able to get them back into the landscape because they have important |
| 2:00.8 | ecological roles. Then I saw a job opportunity here at Humboldt in the Biological Sciences |
| 2:08.9 | Department back in 95, I think, and was fortunate to get that job. And so I started teaching |
| 2:16.0 | botany. And then my interests really shifted away from the things that grow on trees to the trees |
| 2:22.0 | themselves because I was studying the epiphyte communities aloft in these trees while we |
| 2:27.8 | were climbing them and measuring them. |
... |
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