How does climate affect trees?
Climate change is changing the way trees and forests work. A potentially positive effect of climate change is a faster growth of some tree species. This is due to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the twentieth century, which stimulates the photosynthetic activity of trees.
What kind of climate do trees have to grow in to have tree rings?
At locations where tree growth is limited by water availability, trees will produce wider rings during wet and cool years, than during hot and dry years. Drought or a severe winter can cause narrower rings too. If the rings are a consistent width throughout the tree, the climate was the same year after year.
What is the climate in forests?
Temperate deciduous forests also have quite a wet environment. The average temperature in temperate deciduous forests is 50°F (10°C). Summers are mild, and average about 70°F (21°C), while winter temperatures are often well below freezing.
How long can a tree live?
Trees can live anywhere from less than 100 years to more than a few thousand years depending on the species. However, one species in particular outlives them all. The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus Longaeva) has been deemed the oldest tree in existence, reaching an age of over 5,000 years old.
How do plants affect the weather?
Plants and forests draw water out of the soil and exhale it into the atmosphere, impacting the balance of water and heat at our planet’s surface, which fundamentally controls the weather. In some cases, such as in the Amazon rainforest, that water vapor can jumpstart precipitation.
How are trees sensitive to the local climate?
Because trees are sensitive to local climate conditions, such as rain and temperature, they give scientists some information about that area’s local climate in the past. For example, tree rings usually grow wider in warm, wet years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry.
What kind of climate does an olive tree need?
Olive Tree Climate – Temperature Requirements. The areas where olive trees are cultivated for commercial use must have an average annual temperature of 60-68 °F (15-20 °C). The absolute maximum temperature can reach 104 °F (40 °C) without causing damage, but the minimum should not fall below 20 °F (-7 °C).
What can trees tell us about the past?
The color and width of tree rings can provide snapshots of past climate conditions. Because trees are sensitive to local climate conditions, such as rain and temperature, they give scientists some information about that area’s local climate in the past.
How can scientists tell how old a tree is?
The characteristics of the rings inside a tree can tell scientists how old a tree is and what the weather conditions were like during each year of that tree’s life. Very old trees can offer clues about what the climate in an area was like long before measurements were recorded. Image credit: Flickr user Bernard Spragg.