Retain biological legacies

EASTERN: Biological legacies are organisms, structures, or patterns inherited from a previous ecosystem and often include mature trees, snags, and down logs remaining after natural disturbance or harvesting. Biological legacies can enhance species and structural diversity, serve as a seed source, or provide nurse logs for seed germination. Mature trees can often survive through periods of unfavorable climate, even while conditions become unsuitable for seedling establishment. In a changing climate, biological legacies may play a critical role in a species’ persistence or colonization of new habitat.

WESTERN: Biological legacies are organisms, structures, or patterns inherited from a previous ecosystem and often include mature trees, snags, and down logs remaining after natural disturbance or harvesting). In California, a few notable examples of biological legacies include giant sequoia, coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) forests, stands and groves. Biological legacies are often critical components of habitat for many species of wildlife, such as large trees with structures suitable for nesting, denning, roosting, or resting sites. Consequently, biological legacies can enhance species and structural diversity, serve as a seed source, or provide nurse logs for seed germination. Additionally, mature trees can often survive through periods of unfavorable climate, even while conditions become unsuitable for seedling establishment. In a changing climate, biological legacies may play a critical role in a species’ persistence or colonization of new habitat. These unique ecological legacies also have important historical and cultural significance.

Land managers already work to increase structural and species diversity in many cases, and as an adaptation strategy this general goal receives added effort and focus. Structural and species diversity may buffer a community against the susceptibility of its individual components to climate change. In other words, a community may still experience stress as individual components fare poorly, but the redundancy of particular roles and variability among all species’ responses contribute to the resilience of the community. Although a forest is often defined by its dominant or most abundant species, even rare species can act as keystone species or contribute to the suppression of invasive exotic plants.