Nature & Environment

Trees very vulnerable to dehydration

By T.K. Randall
November 24, 2012 ·  6 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu Out of several hundred tree species, up to 70 percent live with the risk that a serious drought would prevent water from being transported from their roots to their leaves. Even in wet, tropical regions the trees maintain a precarious balance that if interrupted could prove disastrous. The find emphasizes just how vulnerable our forests are to changes in the climate.

"I think this is a really big deal," said ecologist David Breshears. "We've been trying to be careful as a community not to be alarmist [but] our forests are really vulnerable." Given that 30 percent of the Earth's land is covered in forests and the important role that these play in maintaining the environment, it is vital that we do what we can to protect the world's trees while we still have them.[!gad]Out of several hundred tree species, up to 70 percent live with the risk that a serious drought would prevent water from being transported from their roots to their leaves. Even in wet, tropical regions the trees maintain a precarious balance that if interrupted could prove disastrous. The find emphasizes just how vulnerable our forests are to changes in the climate.

"I think this is a really big deal," said ecologist David Breshears. "We've been trying to be careful as a community not to be alarmist [but] our forests are really vulnerable." Given that 30 percent of the Earth's land is covered in forests and the important role that these play in maintaining the environment, it is vital that we do what we can to protect the world's trees while we still have them.

Source: Science News | Comments (6)

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