Tree
hideA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to 6 m; some authors set a minimum of 10 cm trunk diameter (30 cm girth). Woody plants that do not meet these definitions by having multiple stems and/or small size, are called shrubs. Compared with most other plants, trees are long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old and growing to up to 115 m (379 ft) high.
Trees are an important component of the natural landscape because of their prevention of erosion and the provision of a weather-sheltered ecosystem in and under their foliage. Trees also play an important role in producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as moderating ground temperatures. They are also elements in landscaping and agriculture, both for their aesthetic appeal and their orchard crops (such as apples). Wood from trees is a building material, as well as a primary energy source in many developing countries. Trees also play a role in many of the world's mythologies (see trees in mythology).
For more information about Tree, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with trees
Beetles, wildfire: Double threat in warming world
Aug 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A veil of smoke settled over the forest in the shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, in a wilderness whose spruce trees stood tall and gray, a deathly gray even in the greenest heart of a Yukon summer.
Biosphere 2 experiment shows how fast heat could kill drought-stressed trees
Apr 13, 2009 |
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Widespread die-off of piñon pine across the southwestern United States during future droughts will occur at least five times faster if climate warms by 4 degrees Celsius, even if future droughts are no worse ...
Ancient oak trees help reduce global warming
Jun 27, 2008 |
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The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring ...
Forests of Artificial Trees Could Slow Global Warming
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study on how technology could help to regulate climate change has studied hundreds of ideas, and selected three considered practical and able to be implemented quickly. The report's ...
State may have brief window to slow loss of working forests to development
Mar 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's slumping economy and housing market may reduce, temporarily, the insistent economic forces on Washington's private forestland owners to give up the cycle of harvesting and replanting ...
Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation -- 3,000 Years Ago
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jul 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As published in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practi ...
Scientists announce unique acacia tree's promise to revive African soils
Aug 24, 2009 |
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Scientists said today at the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry that a type of acacia tree with an unusual growth habit—unlike virtually all other trees—holds particular promise for farmers in Africa as a free source of nitrogen ...
Blight-resistant American chestnut trees nearing reality
Biology /
Dec 05, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The demise of the American chestnut is one of the great ecological disasters of our time, according to a chestnut expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, who envisions a day ...
Exxon to make alternative fuel from algae: report
Jul 14, 2009 |
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Oil giant Exxon Mobil plans to announce a 600-million-dollar investment to produce liquid transportation fuel from algae, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Ancient high-altitude trees grow faster as temperatures rise
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 16, 2009 |
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PIC=32536:left]Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research.
At Long Last, How Plants Make Eggs
Jun 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A long-standing mystery surrounding a fundamental process in plant biology has been solved by a team of scientists at the University of California, Davis.
Trees kill odors and other emissions from poultry farms
Aug 20, 2008 |
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Planting just three rows of trees around poultry farms can cut nuisance emissions of dust, ammonia, and odors from poultry houses and aid in reducing neighbor complaints, according to scientists from the University ...
Paper from sugar cane saves trees and money
Mar 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new way to make paper more easily and cheaply from bagasse, the fibrous sugar cane waste from sugar production, than from trees has been discovered by a Queensland University of Technology researcher.
New computational technique allows comparison of whole genomes as easily as whole books
Jan 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking a hint from the text comparison methods used to detect plagiarism in books, college papers and computer programs, University of California, Berkeley, researchers have developed an improved ...
Anti-biotech groups obstruct forest biotechnology
Jun 30, 2009 |
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The potential of forest biotechnology to help address significant social and environmental issues is being "strangled at birth" by the rigid opposition of some groups and regulations that effectively preclude ...
