The wildfires ravaging California are not the only issue brought on by what has proven to be a relentless drought.

It now seems that the state's signature giant sequoia trees are feeling the wrath of nearly five years without sufficient rainfall, and ecologists are worried about what could happen to the natural giants if conditions don't change.

Sequoia Trees at the Giant Forest at Sequoia National Park in California.

(Getty Images)

According to The Huffington Post, with some losing up to 75 percent of their leaves. To keep an eye on the situation, scientists from the United States Geological Survey and several major universities have joined forces to begin researching what measures forest managers will need to take in order to protect the trees at the highest risk.

One of the lead authors of the study, Koren Nydick told The Huffington Post, "The good news is that there were lots of trees that still seem healthy, but there was this smaller amount that seemed to be stressed and stressed in ways that we haven't seen documented before in the parks.”

(MORE: )

The group is studying over 40 of the massive trees. NPR reports that in order to attach the required monitoring devices to the sequoias, the massive plants that can grow as high as 30 stories. Near the end of August, scientists will climb the trees once again to collect various clippings for advanced lab testing.

Drought is not entirely new for some of these trees. Researchers from The University of California at Berkeley claim that and have survived intense droughts before. The ultimate goal is for scientists to understand what exactly it would take for a drought to kill one of the ancient wonders.

More On Weather.com: Western Drought By Satellite

The impact of the ongoing drought in the west on California's Shasta Lake, shown above in September 2005. (NASA ASTER Satellite Image)