Trees and the Environment

• Trees renew our air supply by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.
• The amount of oxygen produced by an acre of trees per year equals the amount consumed by 18 people annually. One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year.
• One acre of trees removes up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
• Shade trees can make buildings up to 20 degrees cooler in the summer.
• Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves.
• Tree roots stabilize soil and prevent erosion.
• Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water, as well as protecting aquifers and watersheds.
• The cottonwood tree seed is the seed that stays in flight the longest. The tiny seed is surrounded by ultra-light, white fluff hairs that can carry it on the air for several days.

Trees and Science

• Dendrochronology is the science of calculating a tree's age by its rings.
• Tree rings provide precise information about environmental events, including volcanic eruptions.
• A mature birch tree can produce up to 1 million seeds per year.
• Moon trees were grown from seeds taken to the moon by Stuart Roosa, Command Module pilot of the Apollo 14 mission of January 31, 1971. The effort included 400-500 seeds, which orbited the moon on the first few days of February 1971. NASA and the USFS wanted to see if being in space and in the moon's orbit would cause the seeds to grow differently than other seeds.

Record-setting Trees

• One of the tallest soft wood trees is the General Sherman, a giant redwood sequoia of California. General Sherman is about 275 ft or 84 m high with a girth of 25 ft or 8 m.
• The 236 ft or 72 m high Ada Tree of Australia has a 50 ft or 15.4 m girth and a root system that takes up more than an acre.
• The world's tallest tree is a coast redwood in California, measuring more than 360 ft or 110 m.
• The world's oldest trees are 4,600 year old Bristlecone pines in the USA.

   

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