New lecture series starts at Sonoma’s Quarryhill Botanical Garden

An expert in the giant coastal redwoods of California will lecture on the world’s biggest trees, in Quarryhill’s outdoor education terrace, on July 28.|

The subject of the world’s largest trees will kick off this year’s Peter H. Raven Lecture Series at Quarryhill Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen. Steve Sillett, professor of redwood forest ecology at Humboldt State University, will be the speaker at the July 28 gathering in the garden’s outdoor education terrace.

Sillett will discuss “Limits to Tree and Forest Productivity of the Five Tallest Species.” The five tallest tree species (Eucalyptus regnans, Picea sitchensis, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Sequoia sempervirens, Sequoiadendron giganteum) differ physiologically and ecologically in ways that affect the productivity and biodiversity of the forests they dominate, according to the lecture preview.

Intensive study via arboreal and ground-based measurements over two decades permits the first quantitative comparisons of canopy structure, biomass, and the carbon sequestration potential of these forests. Dendrochronology also reveals long-term growth histories of trees, some of which are up to 2,000 years old, providing context for evaluating the potential effects of climate change on the world’s tallest forests.

Sillett has been a professor at Humboldt State University since 1996, and his research has been published in over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and highlighted multiple times by the National Geographic Society. The bulk of his research funding has come from the National Science Foundation, the Save the Redwoods League and the endowment creating the Kenneth L. Fisher Chair of Redwood Forest Ecology at Humboldt State University, a position he has held since 2006.

The other speakers in this year’s lecture series include local snow leopard expert Rodney Jackson on Aug. 18, and Peter Del Tredici of Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum on Sept. 29.

Each Saturday lecture starts promptly at 5:30 and runs until 6:30 p.m. The fee for each lecture is $35 for members, $45 for non-members.

Quarryhill is located at 12841 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen. More information by phone at 996-3166 or online at quarryhillbg.or.

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