How Can You Read A Tree?

Question

Seriously.. How can you read a tree? By its rings, to see how old it is, and what it's been through by the spacing of the rings??

Answer 1

I think what you're looking for is part of the discipline of "dendrochronology" -- it's easier to show you some examples than explain with words.
http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/dendrochronology.html

BTW, trees don't have to be cut down to read their rings... instruments called increment borers are used to extract a small core from a living tree for analysis, without hurting the tree.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/incre.htm

Answer 2

At first I thought you were looking for answers like "cut it down, pulp it, make paper, and sell it to a publisher."

But since you are serious. You would need to cut it down to get a whole slice to see the full history so that is not a great hobby from the viewpoint of preserving forests. Look at the growth rings with the outermost being from this year and then count back toward the center. Fat rings are wetter years than dry years. A ring is the thickness from a light (springtime growth) to dark (fall growth).

Maybe you could start with a branch and practice on that. Same rules but less tree harm.

Answer 3

By counting the rings you can tell the years. Thicker rings mean years of more growth (ie more water), thinner rings the opposite. Mis-shapen rings, or Dark patchs can indicate damage, fire, or other events.