How high can a tree grow?
How high can a tree grow?
Learn why there are limits on a tree's height but not its width; included is a discussion of the growth ring.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Hiroshi Tanaka/Dreamstime.com
Transcript
NARRATOR: Whether in virgin forests or botanic gardens, whether redwood or beech - there is a limit to how high a tree can grow. As Heike Bomgarden explains, this is due to the water transport conduits that supply the tree with water.
HEIKE BOMGARDEN: "This fabulously beautiful hundred-year-old beech tree has about 800,000 leaves, and each of these leaves transpires water. And when water evaporates, it has to be replaced with water from below. The roots supply this water, transporting it up through narrow conduits back to the leaf. The leaf again transpires water and this creates a never-ending cycle. Water is taken in, evaporates, the moisture washes down and is once again taken in by the roots."
NARRATOR: The taller and larger a tree grows, the more water it needs to stay healthy and green.
BOMGARDEN: "Giant redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, but even they don't grow to the heavens. One hundred twenty meters is pretty much the tallest they can grow. You have to imagine, the roots have to transport water to the very top of the tree and the tree has to create an enormous amount of pressure to do that, sooner or later it just doesn't manage anymore. From that point on it will stop growing taller, but continue to grow in circumference."
NARRATOR: So the tree stops growing taller, but there are no limits to how wide it can grow. A tree's annual rings tell us the history of how a tree has grown.
BOMGARDEN: "Sectional cuts of trees like this one tell us a lot about a tree's growth history. Here we can see that this tree grew straight upwards. The sectional cut from this oak shows that the tree had to grow to offset an imbalance, i.e. it was growing on a hillside and had to produce more wood on this side so it could grow straight; this is because trees always have an inherent inclination to grow straight upwards."
NARRATOR: One year, one ring. The wood grows in waves. Every detail of a tree's life is recorded here, and no two trees are the same - neither in stature nor height. But all trees do have one thing in common. None of them grow into the heavens.
HEIKE BOMGARDEN: "This fabulously beautiful hundred-year-old beech tree has about 800,000 leaves, and each of these leaves transpires water. And when water evaporates, it has to be replaced with water from below. The roots supply this water, transporting it up through narrow conduits back to the leaf. The leaf again transpires water and this creates a never-ending cycle. Water is taken in, evaporates, the moisture washes down and is once again taken in by the roots."
NARRATOR: The taller and larger a tree grows, the more water it needs to stay healthy and green.
BOMGARDEN: "Giant redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, but even they don't grow to the heavens. One hundred twenty meters is pretty much the tallest they can grow. You have to imagine, the roots have to transport water to the very top of the tree and the tree has to create an enormous amount of pressure to do that, sooner or later it just doesn't manage anymore. From that point on it will stop growing taller, but continue to grow in circumference."
NARRATOR: So the tree stops growing taller, but there are no limits to how wide it can grow. A tree's annual rings tell us the history of how a tree has grown.
BOMGARDEN: "Sectional cuts of trees like this one tell us a lot about a tree's growth history. Here we can see that this tree grew straight upwards. The sectional cut from this oak shows that the tree had to grow to offset an imbalance, i.e. it was growing on a hillside and had to produce more wood on this side so it could grow straight; this is because trees always have an inherent inclination to grow straight upwards."
NARRATOR: One year, one ring. The wood grows in waves. Every detail of a tree's life is recorded here, and no two trees are the same - neither in stature nor height. But all trees do have one thing in common. None of them grow into the heavens.