Scientists searching Taiwan’s remote mountains for giant trees say they have uncovered an extraordinary forest landscape, according to ScienceDaily.
The team, known as the “Taiwan tree seekers,” has been documenting these trees since 2014 with help from tree climbers, ecologists, geologists and remote sensing specialists. Their work reached a major milestone in 2023 when they identified an 84.1-meter Taiwania fir, now recognized as the tallest tree in Taiwan and all of East Asia.
Taiwan’s steep terrain and wide range of elevations help support a huge variety of plant life. The island has about 5,000 plant species, and roughly 60% of its land remains forested, though industrial logging from 1912 to 1991 removed much of the original primary forest.
According to ScienceDaily, the search became much more efficient once the researchers began using LiDAR and later brought in citizen scientists to review the data. That effort led to the Taiwan Giant Tree Map, which documented 941 trees taller than 65 meters and helped guide climbers to especially dense clusters of giant Taiwania firs.
The researchers say the map has also revealed what they call “temples of giants,” including one forest area near Mt. Benya where 11 trees taller than 65 meters were found in a single hectare.
