CAN TREES DRINK FOG?

Coast redwoods and giant sequoias are the tallest and most massive beings on the planet. The tallest redwood, standing at 379 feet, is Hyperion, which lives in a California location that is kept secret to prevent the tree from being damaged by visitors. General Sherman, which has a net volume of 57,508 cubic feet, has the most biomass. At these considerable dimensions, it’s no mean feat for the trees to obtain the water and nutrients needed to sustain such height and volume. But in the summer months—the trees’ critical growing season— the fogs of California’s northern coast come to the aid of coastal redwoods. To supplement water coming from the ground, they get an estimated 25 to 40% of their moisture from fog. It enters via the stomata on the leaves and is then drawn down to the roots (the reverse of the transpiration that occurs in most trees where water flows from roots to leaves). The fog also provides nutrients that have been incorporated from the Pacific marine environment, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and minerals. In addition, water that drips down from the leaves provides moisture for plant life growing below. Redwoods were the first trees found to transport water both up and down, though others have now been identified.