· Here at LAN, we love trees. Just check
out our hit article Top 10
Sacred Tree which
highlights some of the wolrds most special tress in all of their awesomeness.
The benefits of trees are widely known, but there are some amazing facts about
trees that you might not know and will surely blow you mind!
· A single 30-meter-tall mature tree can absorb as much as 22.7 kilograms (50
pounds) of carbon dioxide in a year, which over it’s lifetime is approximately
the same amount as would be produced by an average car being driven 41,500
kilometers (25,787 miles). The same tree could also produce 2,721 kilograms
(5,998.78 pounds) of oxygen in a year, which is enough to support at least two
people. According to the University of Melbourne, because trees grow faster the
older they get, their capacity for photosynthesis and carbon sequestration
increases as they age.
· You probably knew that trees were good
for wildlife, but did you know just how good? For example, the common English
Oak (Quercus robur) can support
hundreds of different species, including 284 species of insect and 324 taxa
(species, sub-species, and varieties) of lichens living directly on the tree.
These in turn provide food for numerous birds and small mammals. The acorns of
oak trees (which don’t usually appear until the tree is around 40 years old)
are food for dozens of species, including wild boar (and now more commonly
pigs), jays, pigeons, pheasants, ducks, squirrels, mice, badgers, and deer.
· When lost, it is possible to use trees to
assist you in navigation. In northern temperate climates, moss will grow on the
northern side of the tree trunk, where it is shadier. Failing that, if you find
a tree that has been cut down, you can observe the rings of the tree to
discover which direction north is. In the northern hemisphere, the rings of
growth in a tree trunk are slightly thicker on the southern side, which
receives more light. The converse is true in the southern hemisphere.
· Most people know that trees near
buildings can raise property prices by an average of 14 percent in the U.K. and
as much as up to 37 percent in the U.S. But trees can also have an impact on
the energy used for heating and cooling a building, reducing air conditioning
costs by as much as 30 percent and saving 20 to 50 percent on energy for
heating. This is because as well as providing shade, a large tree can also
transpire as much as 378.5 liters (100 gallons) of water into the air per day.
This has a cooling effect roughly equivalent to 10 single room-sized air
conditioning units operating 20 hours a day!
· There is a theory that the evolution of
tall, woody, flowering trees (angiosperms) might have played a pivotal role in
the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is believed, by some, that the speed at
which flowering plants evolved on Earth (possibly spurred on by rapid climate
change) occurred too quickly for dinosaurs to adapt their diets. Flowering
plants are better at producing oxygen. With the rapid increase in flowering
plants, scientists suggest that the metabolism of large herbivorous dinosaurs
might have increased to the point that they could not eat enough food to
sustain their increased metabolism.
· Trees are masters of both self-defense
and communication. Scientists have found that when attacked by insects, trees
can flood their leaves with chemicals called phenolics. These noxious compounds
are distasteful to tree pests and can even impede their growth. What’s amazing
is that once a tree is attacked, it will “signal” to other nearby trees to also
start their self-defense, before they are attacked! Methods of communication
include releasing chemicals into the wind and possibly even sending chemical or
electric signals through the michorizal network of roots (a network of shared
fungus fibers).
· The oldest living organism on Earth is
believed to be the “Pando” colony of Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah, also known as the Trembling Giant. The colony of
trees covers some 41.7 hectares (103 acres) and is estimated to weigh nearly
6,000,000 kilograms (6,600 tons), making it also the heaviest known organism. Being a clonal colony, the tree “trunks” all share identical genetic makeup. It is estimated that parts of the inter-connected root stock that links the colony together is in excess of 80,000 years old!