Sun, Feb 24, 2019 page2

• Team treks seven days to locate giant trees

  TREE HUGGERS: Rebecca Hsu became curious after reports from a previous expedition described a tree that it took more than 12 people with outstretched arms to surround

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  A forestry expert has for the first time documented an old-growth forest in Yushan National Park that includes three trees taller than 60m following a seven-day trek to get to the area.

  The forest of about 1 hectare was first discovered in 2007, but its location was not recorded and Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, wanted to find it and explore it further.

  After a seven-day, 80km hike into the mountains with a mountaineering team, Hsu found a virgin forest with giant trees.

  

  Researchers measure the circumference of a Taiwania along the Batongguan Historic Trail in Yushan National Park on Sunday last week.

  Photo provided by Rebecca Hsu

  Three trees in the forest stood out: one Taiwanese spruce and two Taiwanias with diameters of 2.3m to 3.5m that stood 63m to 64m tall, almost as high as a 20-story building, Hsu said on Monday last week.

  Drone footage posted on the researcher’s “Rebecca Hsu” YouTube channel shows the two giant Taiwanias with Mabolasishan (馬博拉斯山) and Siouguluanshan (秀姑巒山) in the background.

  The Taiwania is among the tallest tree species in Asia, which is why the Rukai people call it the “tree that hits the moon,” the researcher said, adding that it is the only plant species with “Taiwan” in its generic name.

  Hsu said that she organized the trek after watching a report about the exploration of the Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道) in the national park in 2007, during which Yushan National Park Headquarters found a colossal Taiwania that it took more than 12 people with outstretched arms to wrap.

  The aim of the 2007 expedition was to determine whether it would be possible to restore the historic trail, created during the Qing Dynasty, and it did not document what it found in the forest, Hsu said.

  The forest’s location was not recorded and the tree’s height was estimated based only on visual inspection, leaving enough unknowns to pique her interest, she said.

  It was critical to determine the forest’s location before setting out, because due to the mountainous landscape, veering off the trail by a kilometer could have led the team into a deadly trap, Hsu said.

  With that in mind, she asked National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Geomatics for help in pinpointing the forest’s location.

  Using LIDAR, an instrument that measures distance using a pulsating laser, the department was able to locate the forest and the three giant trees in the national park’s Qaqatu (瓜瓜圖) area.

  Hsu and her four fellow mountaineers followed the coordinates obtained and found the spot.

  Hsu said that she still remembers the delicate fragrance of wood and moss mingling with beams of sunshine coming through the trees.

  “We experienced total relaxation and happiness when we arrived,” she said.

  The team eventually found the Taiwania mentioned after the 2007 expedition, but the tree had lost its top, possibly due to a lightning strike, and was only 47m tall, she Hsu said.

  In 2017, Hsu coordinated invited The Tree Projects, an Australia-based duo, to photograph three Taiwanias on Cilan Mountain nicknamed the “three sisters” at close range along their full length to produce a photograph that does not distort the trees’ shape.
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