Why Should You Care About Ancient Trees?
By Canyon Sallady, WellKind Forestry Intern
Canyon Sallady was an intern for WellKind Forestry during our fall 2022 session, exploring the power of ancient trees and other environmental topics.
Ancient trees are classified as being far more matured than other trees in their same species. They help the environment in many ways: holding large amounts of carbon, purifying water, giving animals habitat, providing shade for soil, and offering food for many species (Brenna, 2016).
Here are more reasons why we need to save ancient trees.
Since ancient trees have had upwards of hundreds of thousands of years to grow, they have had more time to sequester carbon. These older trees are also much more effective at storing this carbon compared to younger trees (Moomaw, et al., 2019). They are also much larger and have more leaves, which allows for carbon sequestering on a larger scale.
With the stored carbon, the ancient trees grow to become a bigger part of their environment. Because of their larger size, they are a place of nesting for many species, from invertebrates to lichens (Paltto, et al., 2011). These species use these trees not only to reproduce, but as a food source from the dead wood. Fungi feed off dead wood, helping to decompose the matter and remove inorganic nutrients. This is then fed into the soil which allows new plants, including trees, to grow. Ancient trees also serve as shelter for birds, bats, and other species of animals (Brenna, 2016). I also found that ancient trees increase biodiversity in species richness in their ecosystem due to increased reproduction and a surplus of food.
Ancient trees also have very large root systems that serve many purposes, such as filtering water and creating a more lush and diverse ecosystem.
The reason the ancient trees are so much stronger, resilient and more resistant than other trees is because their genetic composition is much stronger (Jarman, et al., 2019). And when trees spread their seeds, they tend to have similar genetics to their parent trees. This causes the surrounding trees to be incredibly strong and successful, just like the parent ancient trees (Anestiadou, 2017). Although they might not have the same benefits due to location and resources, they will oftentimes outlast other young and maturing trees.
Given the importance of ancient trees, it’s critical that we focus on protecting the largest, oldest trees we can. Replanting logged forests simply won’t give the same benefits as preserving old growth.
References
Anestiadou, K., Nikoloudakis, N., Hagidimitriou, M., & Katsiotis, A. (2017). Monumental olive trees of Cyprus contributed to the establishment of the contemporary olive germplasm. PLOS ONE, 12(11), e0187697. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187697
Brenna, L. (2016, April 20). 5 animals that choose to live on trees. LifeGate. https://www.lifegate.com/earth-day-trees-animals
Moomaw, W., Masino, S., & Faison, E. (2019, June 11). Intact Forests in the United States: Proforestation Mitigates Climate Change and Serves the Greatest Good. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027/full
Takács, M., & Malatinszky, Á. (2021). Half of the Ancient Trees in Hungary Stand in Human-Altered Environments. Sustainability, 13(22), 12803. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212803
Jarman, R., Mattioni, C., Russell, K., Chambers, F. M., Bartlett, D., Martin, M. A., Cherubini, M., Villani, F., & Webb, J. (2019). DNA analysis of Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut) in Britain and Ireland: Elucidating European origins and gene pool diversity. PLoS ONE, 14(9), e0222936. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222936
Paltto, H., Nordberg, A., Nordén, B., & Snäll, T. (2011). Development of Secondary Woodland in Oak Wood Pastures Reduces the Richness of Rare Epiphytic Lichens. PLoS ONE, 6(9), e24675. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0024675
Stefańska-Krzaczek, E., Staniaszek-Kik, M., Szczepańska, K., & Szymura, T. H. (2019). Species diversity patterns in managed Scots pine stands in ancient forest sites. PLoS ONE, 14(7), e0219620. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0219620