Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park:
A Biophysical Overview
INTRODUCTION
BLACKNESS FADES TO MONTAGE OF NORTH COAST SCENERY & WILDLIFE (CD#15/40)
Welcome to the North Coast of California: a land of striking scenery and remarkable biodiversity. Much of this landscape is protected in state parks. One park stands out as particularly representative of the North Coast’s biophysical features.
ZOOM-IN TO GRAZING ELK / TITLE MATERIALIZES & DISAPPEARS
I’m Tristan Howard. As a geography student and natural history filmmaker, I’ll be your guide as we explore Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
REDWOODS / PRAIRIE CREEK
Located in northwestern Humboldt County, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park covers 14,000 acres and is named after both the redwoods it protects and Prairie Creek, which flows through the park (CDPR 1985b; Rohde and Rohde 1994).
RNSP SIGN NEAR ROAD / AGENCY LOGO CLOSE-UPS
Prairie Creek Redwoods State park was established in 1923 to protect redwoods and is enclosed in the contiguous protected region known as Redwood National and State Parks (NPS 1987; NPS). This region is home to 45% of California’s remaining old growth redwood forests. It’s also cooperatively managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service (CDPR). As part of Redwood National and State Parks, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is surrounded by Redwood National Park, which connects to the north to Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (NPS).
FOREST / BLUFFS / GRASSLANDS / OCEAN
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has primeval redwood forests, rocky bluffs, scenic grasslands, and a wild coastline (CDPR 1985a). Because of its distinct physical regions, the park teems with biodiversity.
FOREST / BLUFFS / GRASSLANDS / OCEAN
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has primeval redwood forests, rocky bluffs, scenic grasslands, and a wild coastline (CDPR 1985a). Because of its distinct physical regions, the park teems with biodiversity.
REDWOOD FORESTS
ELK PRAIRIE REDWOOD FOREST ESTABLISHING SHOTS / MORE REDWOODS
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is probably most well-known because it provides protected habitat for the coast redwood (CDPR 1985b). Over 100 million years ago, coast redwood ancestors were widespread across the northern hemisphere, but coast redwoods didn’t arrive on North America’s west coast until approximately 20 million years ago. Here, the trees thrived with a favorable climate that provided heavy precipitation, stable temperatures, and summer fog (Savage 2007).
REDWOODS IN FOG
Due to gradual climate change, coast redwoods eventually virtually disappeared from all parts of the planet, except for a sector of California coastline extending 450 miles from the Oregon border to Monterey Bay (Savage 2007). In addition to natural climate change, human impacts have also limited coast redwoods. The advent of more sophisticated logging technology along with increased logging in the 1800s and fire suppression in the 1900s drastically reduced the range of coast redwoods (Rohde and Rohde 1994; Wheeler 2007). In 1850, there were nearly 2 million acres of old growth coast redwood and now less than 4% of that remains (Wheeler 2005).
Coast redwoods can live for 2,000 years, reach widths 20 feet, and attain heights of 370 feet, placing them among the tallest trees in the world (Rohde and Rohde 1994; Savage 2007). Coast redwoods are also some of the most rapidly growing trees on Earth. After 100 to 200 years, the trees may exceed 300 feet in height (Barbour et al. 2001). Coast redwoods also possess highly fire resistant bark (NCRIA 2003).
BANANA SLUGS / MANTLE CLOSE-UPS (CD#13/33)
On the forest floor, lives the banana slug. It’s the largest land slug in North America and is typically 6 to 8 inches long. Banana slugs inhabit the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest from California to southern Alaska. This range is well-suited to banana slugs because they can’t survive extreme temperatures. Slugs likely evolved from snails. The banana slug even has remnants of an internal shell plate in its mantle, which is the raised covering on its head. Because slugs lack protective shells, they are limited to living in high moisture regions in order to avoid desiccation. Still, lacking a shell gives slugs more maneuverability than snails (Harper 1988).
BANANA SLUGS / PNEUMOSTOME CLOSE-UP
Banana slugs hatch from clutches of approximately 30 more or more eggs and don’t receive parental care. On their mantle’s right side, banana slugs have a breathing hole known as the pneumostome. The banana slug can open or close its pneumostome when necessary and may close it when it rains (Harper 1988).
BANANA SLUG TENTACLE CLOSE-UPS / MORE SLUG SHOTS
Banana slugs have two pairs of retractable tentacles, which can regenerate if removed by predation. The top pair of tentacles senses images with eyes that are visible as black spots and the bottom tentacles are used for smelling and feeling. Tentacle flexibility allows banana slugs to look in two directions simultaneously. The banana slug feeds with its radula, which is a tooth-covered tongue it uses to grind food to pulp. Banana slugs eat a wide variety of organic materials, including living and decomposing vegetation and animal carcasses. Thus, the eating habits of banana slugs aid with seed dispersal and decomposition (Harper 1988).
BANANA SLUG CLOSE-UPS / MULTI-COLORED SLUGS
All of the banana slug’s body can produce sticky mucous, which is important for water retention and defense. Slug mucous can interfere with predator mobility and be distasteful. It can also help banana slugs navigate smooth surfaces and even allows them to generate slime cords, which they can hang from while descending tree branches. While many banana slugs are bright yellow, some are spotted or possess earth tones (Harper 1988).
NORTHERN RED-LEGGED FROG
Also inhabiting the forest floor is the northern red-legged frog. This frog lives in pools, marshes, and ponds of the Coast Ranges from Mendocino County, California to southern British Columbia, Canada (CDFG b; Sendak 2008). Northern red-legged frog adults feed on insects, snails, crustaceans, worms, fish, smaller frogs, and small mammals (CDFG b). The northern red-legged frog is closely related to the California red-legged frog, which is classified as federally threatened (Sendak 2008).
MIXED FOREST
Coast redwoods have low tolerance for ocean salt spray and as forests get closer to the sea, they are dominated by other trees, such as Douglas fir, red alder, and Sitka spruce (CDPR 1985a).
GOLD BLUFFS
BLUFF SCENERY
The forests of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park spread westward toward the towering Gold Bluffs. These bluffs are named after the gold they once contained (CDPR 1985b). Gold was discovered at the bluffs in May, 1850 and locals frenzied to the discovery (CDPR 1985a; Rohde and Rohde 1994). From 1850 to the 1880s, gold mining operations took place at the bluffs but weren’t highly successful (CDPR 1985a). Gold was fine-grained and contained within black sands that were only available when dislodged by ocean waves hitting the bluffs. The ocean used to come much closer to the bluffs than it does today (Rohde and Rohde 1994).
The Gold Bluffs contain spectacular Fern Canyon (Dewitt 1982).
FERN CANYON MONTAGE (CD#10/14)
Fern Canyon is roughly 30 feet wide and 50 to 100 feet high (CDPR 2004). The faces of the canyon are blanketed with 8 species of ferns and other plants that depend on high levels of moisture (CDPR 1985a).
DRIPPING MOSS WITH WATER SOUNDS / MORE FERN CANYON SCENERY
Home Creek travels through Fern Canyon before emptying to the Pacific Ocean. The creek provides habitat for frogs, salamanders, and trout (CDPR 1985a).
GRASSLANDS
GRASSLAND SCENERY
Between the bluffs and the beach and in other locations are Prairie Creek Redwood State Park’s grasslands. One of the most visible inhabitants of the grasslands is the regal Roosevelt elk (CDPR 1985a).
ELK MONTAGE (CD#16/22)
The Roosevelt elk mainly inhabits the Pacific Northwest and is the largest of four subspecies of elk living in North America (Geist 1991). The ancestors of the Roosevelt elk of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park were some of the last of their subspecies in the state. Roosevelt elk originally occurred from San Francisco Bay to British Columbia and ranged as far east as the Cascade Mountains (NPS and CDPR 2004). But, during the Gold Rush, elk were severely hunted for their meat and hide resources. By 1925, California’s Roosevelt elk only lived in a small region in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that a mere 15 animals remained in the state (Harn 1958).
BULL ELK CROSSING ROAD
Because of habitat protection, California Roosevelt elk eventually recovered to more than 1,000 individuals. Currently, automobile collisions and poaching are the major causes of elk mortality in Redwood National and State Parks (NPS and CDPR 2004).
BULL ELK / ELK DANGER SIGNS
Mature Roosevelt elk males (known as bulls) can weigh up to 1,100 pounds and possess large antlers. Female elk (known as cows) lack antlers. Although elk seem docile, they can be dangerous and wildlife viewers should keep their distance. Elk can chase people, inflict wounds with their hooves, and gore with their antlers. Cow elk can be aggressive in the summer when defending their offspring and bulls can pose a formidable threat during the breeding season, also known as the rut (NPS and CDPR 2004).
ANTLER EMPHASIS SHOTS
Like all members of the deer family, male elk possess antlers, not horns. Antlers are primarily composed of bone and are re-grown and shed each year, unlike horns, which are permanently attached to the skull of an animal (Rue III 1989). Elk shed their antlers in early spring and new antlers grow back covered in velvet, which is a soft layer of modified skin (Geist 1991; Rue III 1989). Velvet is highly vascularized with blood vessels, which transport the minerals that are deposited for antler growth (Rue III 1989).
ELK IN SUNLIGHT
The elk rut lasts from late August until mid-October (NPS and CDPR 2004). Decreasing levels of sunlight hit the eyes of elk after the summer solstice. The decreasing levels of light affect the lower brain stem and hormones of elk and stimulate breeding behavior (Geist 1991). This cycle of light and darkness affecting elk biology is known as photoperiodism (Rue III 1989).
SCRAPPY VELVET ELK / BULLS SHOWING OFF
In late August, with the onset of the rut, velvet is shed and scraped off on vegetation after antler growth is complete (Geist 1991). Much of the activity during the elk rut revolves around bulls making their presence known in order to display their fitness for reproduction and attract females. Bulls often advertise with their antlers. A bull’s antler size and symmetry can attest to his health and feeding abilities because it takes large amounts of nutrients to grow symmetrical, sizable antlers (Geist 1991).
BUGLING ELK / URINATING ELK / WALLOWING ELK
One of the most distinctive features of elk is the bull’s bugle during the rut. High-pitched elk bugling can carry long distances and attract mates or intimidate rivals. Bulls may also urinate on themselves to spread their scent. Bull elk will even dig muddy wallows with their hooves and antlers, urinate in the mud, and then rub their necks in the wallow (Geist 1991).
ELK TEARING APART BLACKBERRIES IN ELK PRAIRIE
To impress other elk, highly confident bulls may also thrash vegetation and dirt with their antlers (Geist 1991).
RUTTING ACTIVITY IN ELK MEADOW
As seen here in Redwood National Park near the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park border, elk bulls gather harems of cows during the rut. Mature bulls must then keep their cows from straying and ward off rivals, especially young bulls who often try to breed unreceptive females (Geist 1991). During the rut, elk activity can be energetic as bulls intimidate each other and pursue females.
RUTTING ELK ACTIVITY MONTAGE (CD#15/26)
SONGBIRDS / WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
The grasslands of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park are home to many bird species, including sparrows. This is a white-crowned sparrow. Most white-crowned sparrows are migratory, but some living along a narrow strip of California coast stay in the same area year-round. White-crowned sparrow males can develop unique song dialects based on where they grow up (CLO b). White-crowned sparrows mainly eat seeds, plant shoots, flowers, berries, insects, and spiders. These sparrows often feed on the ground but may also attack insects in flight (CDFG c).
SANDY GRASSLANDS
Across from sandy grasslands is the coastline of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
COASTLINE
OCEAN WAVES
This coastline consists of the 8-mile long Gold Bluffs Beach, which is one of the largest wild beaches in northern California. Gray whales, sea lions, and porpoises are visible from the beach. There are also water birds, such as pelicans, cormorants, and gulls (CDPR 1985a).
GULLS STANDING ON SAND / GULL DRINKING WATER
Here, a group of gulls stands on the beach. Gulls live all over the world and there are dozens of species. Gulls are opportunistic omnivores and often scavenge. They can also drink salt water because they have a pair of glands above their eyes, which cleanse salt from their bodies through beak openings (Costello 1971).
BROWN PELICANS & CORMORANTS FLOATING
Here, brown pelicans and cormorants hunt fish. Pelicans and cormorants belong to order Pelecaniformes. Both species have webbed feet, salt glands in their eye sockets, and bare-skinned throat pouches. Brown pelicans sometimes steal food from cormorants (Nelson 2005). Gulls may also try to snatch food from the pelican’s pouch (CLO a).
GENERAL BROWN PELICAN SHOTS
The brown pelican lives along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North and South America. In the 1950s and 1960s, brown pelican numbers sharply declined in North America because of pesticide poisoning from chemicals like DDT (Nelson 2005). DDT can thin and weaken egg shells. Pelicans were especially vulnerable to its effects because they incubate their eggs by standing on them with their webbed feet (CLO a). Once a federally endangered species, brown pelicans have since recovered and there may be more than 1 million worldwide (AOU and CLO; Nelson 2005).
Though very few brown pelicans live longer than 10 years, there is at least one record of an individual living to be 43. Brown pelicans mainly eat fish and marine invertebrates, though they sometimes commit cannibalism (CLO a; Nelson 2005).
BROWN PELICANS FISHING
Unlike other pelican species, which are often found on lakes, the brown pelican is the only full-time marine pelican (CLO a; Nelson 2005). It is also the only pelican that engages in plunge-diving behavior to feed (CLO a). In fact, brown pelicans occupy the same ecological niche once held by pterosaurs, which were flying reptiles that lived during the time of the dinosaurs 65 to 215 million years ago (Monastersky 2001). Brown pelicans usually feed near the shoreline (Nelson 2005). They will fly above the water, spot fish, and then dive from as high 20 to 40 feet in the air (CLO a; CDFG a). Brown pelicans may partly or fully submerge as they scoop up fish and water in their beak pouches (CDFG a; CLO a). The water will then be drained and the pelican will swallow its catch. Pelicans can also scoop-feed while swimming (Nelson 2005).
Here at Gold Bluffs Beach, brown pelicans and cormorants are busy fishing and harbor seals occasionally join in.
BROWN PELICAN MONTAGE WITH SEALS (SOARING, FISHING, & SLOW MOTION) (CD#19/21)
CONCLUSION
GENERAL SCENERY & WILDLIFE
With its striking scenery and remarkable plants and wildlife, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is a prime example of a land largely untouched by humanity. Unfortunately, such lands are becoming increasingly rare. We live in a world of rapid global climate change, falling water tables, declining forests, collapsing fisheries, advancing deserts, and the greatest mass extinction since the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. Every one of these unfortunate factors is being accelerated and intensified by humanity and its rapid population growth (Brown 2008).
It took thousands of years for humankind to reach 1 billion people by 1800 (USCB). Because of technological and medical advancements, population has since exploded to its current size of approximately 6.7 billion people (Engelman 2008; PRB). The Earth has never faced this many people before and its natural systems are experiencing unprecedented stress (USCB; Brown 2008). Most population growth occurs in poor developing countries and most resource consumption is carried out by wealthy developed countries. Only with international cooperation, can we find sustainable, global solutions (Brown 2008).
If places like Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park are to survive far into the future, the Earth’s population problem and resource use practices must be considered. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has remarkable biodiversity in its magnificent redwood forests, towering bluffs, scenic grasslands, and wild coastline. With human understanding and responsibility, there may be an enduring future for the biophysical features of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
END CREDITS (CD#15/26)
American Ornithologists’ Union and Cornell Lab of Ornithology (AOU and CLO). The birds of North America online: Brown pelican. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/609/ articles/introduction (accessed October 17, 2008).
Barbour, Michael et al. 2001. Coast Redwood: A Natural and Cultural History. Los Olivos, CA: Cachuma Press.
Brown, Lester R. 2008. Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to save civilization. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG a). California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System: California Interagency Wildlife Task Group: Brown Pelican. By S. Granholm. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cwhr/cawildlife.aspx (accessed October 17, 2008). [govt. doc.]
—— (CDFG b). California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System: California Interagency Wildlife Task Group: Northern Red-legged Frog. By H. Basey and S. Morey. http:// www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cwhr/cawildlife.aspx (accessed October 17, 2008). [govt. doc.]
—— (CDFG c). California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System: California Interagency Wildlife Task Group: White-Crowned Sparrow. By S. Granholm. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cwhr/cawildlife.aspx (accessed October 17, 2008). [govt. doc.]
California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR). California State Parks: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. State of California. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=415 (accessed March 6, 2008).
——. 1985a. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Interpretive Prospectus. By Joann Weiler. Sacramento. [govt. doc.]
——. 1985b. State Redwoods Parks General Plan. By California Department of Parks and Recreation. Sacramento. [govt. doc.]
——. 2004. California State Parks Video Transcript: Fern Canyon: The Real “Lost World” at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. By California Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/735/files/transcriptferncanyonprairiecreekredwoods.pdf (accessed October 16, 2008). [govt. doc.]
Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO a). Cornell lab of ornithology: All about birds: Brown pelican. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Brown_Pelican_dtl.html (accessed October 17, 2008).
—— (CLO b). Cornell lab of ornithology: All about birds: White-crowned sparrow. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-crowned_Sparrow_dtl. html#map (accessed October 17, 2008).
Costello, David F. 1971. The world of the gull. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company.
Dewitt, John B. 1982. California redwood parks and preserves: A guide to the redwood parks and a brief history of the efforts to save the redwoods. San Francisco: Save-the-Redwoods League.
Engelman, Robert. 2008. More: Population, nature, and what women want. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Geist, Valerius. 1991. Elk country. Minocqua, WI: NorthWord Press Inc.
Harn, Joseph Harry. 1958. The Roosevelt elk, Cervus canadensis roosevelti (Merriam), at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. Master’s thesis, Humboldt State University.
Harper, Alice Bryant. 1988. The banana slug: A close look at a giant forest slug of western North America. Aptos, CA: Bay Leaves Press.
Monastersky, Richard. 2001. Pterosaurs – Lords of the ancient skies. http://science.national geographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/pterosaurs.html (accessed October 17, 2008).
National Park Service (NPS). Redwood National and State Parks. http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm (accessed October 16, 2008).
National Park Service (NPS) and California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR). 2000. General Management Plan / General Plan: Redwood National and State Parks. Denver.
——. 2004. Elk in the Redwoods. By Redwood Park Association and Redwood National and State Parks. http://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/upload/elk.pdf (accessed April 8, 2008). [govt. doc.]
Nelson, Bryan. 2005. Pelicans, cormorants, and their relatives. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
North Coast Redwood Interpretive Association (NCRIA). 2003. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: Trail map and guide. Orick, CA: NCRIA.
Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2008 World population data sheet. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2008/2008wpds.aspx (accessed October 18, 2008).
Rohde, Jerry, and Gisela Rohde. 1994. Redwood National & State Parks: Tales, trails, & auto tours. McKinleyville, CA: MountainHome Books.
Rue III, Lenoard Lee. 1989. The deer of North America. Danbury, CT: Grolier Book Clubs Inc.
Savage, Debby. 2007. Does Size Matter? In 2007 Visitor Guide: Redwood National & State Parks. National Park Service and California Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.nps.gov/redw/parknews/upload/Visitor%20Guide%202007.pdf (accessed April 8, 2008). [govt. doc.]
Sendak, Carrie M. 2008. Spatial ecology and site occupancy of the northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora) in a coastal dune environment. Master’s thesis, Humboldt State University.
U.S. Census Bureau (USCB). International programs: World population profile: 1998 – Highlights.
Wheeler, Jim. 2005. Recipe for a Healthy Forest Canopy. In 2005 Visitor Guide: Redwood National and State Parks. National Park Service and California Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.nps.gov/redw/parknews/upload/VG05_featurestories.pdf (accessed April 8, 2008). [govt. doc.]
——. 2007. Looking Forward to the Past. In 2007 Visitor Guide: Redwood National and State Parks. National Park Service and California Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.nps.gov/redw/parknews/upload/Visitor%20Guide%202007.pdf (accessed April 8, 2008). [govt. doc.]