Assume that you live in an area that has a great deal of seasonal variation in temperature an precipitation: for example,dry, cold winters and warm,moist summers. How could you find the age of a tree in such an area? HOw could you determine whether the weather in a certain year in the past had been wet or dry?
2007-01-29 15:31:01 · 2 answers · asked by _cuteangel562_ 2 in Environment
Many planted trees have a known age. By comparing their growth rings to recorded weather data over the same period, one can establish a base line for comparison. Works best with older trees.
2007-01-29 15:48:16 · answer #1 · answered by Michael E 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seasonal variation in temp. and precip. results in growth rings in the xylem/wood.
Count the rings to determine the age of the tree. If you count the dark rings, you're counting the number of winters. If you count the light rings, you're counting the number of summers. Either way, you can learn the number of years the tree has been growing.
In order to keep from killing the tree, you can take a small core with a special tool -- extracts a core from the layers of xylem and still shows the rings.
You can examine the width of the light-colored rings to find out if the years had more or less precipitation. Wider rings indicate more precip. Count back from the outside to see how many years ago that particular ring was made.
2007-01-29 16:01:58 · answer #2 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋