Telling Your Tree Stories

Kirindy Forestry Reserve, Madagascar

The Baobab Tree

Here we have the magnificent Baobab tree. The African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is the oldest living flowering plant, or angiosperm, and is found in the continent’s tropical regions. Individual trees — which can contain up to 500 cubic metres of wood — can live for more than 2,000 years. Their wide trunks often have hollow cavities, and their high branches resemble roots sticking up into the air.

You can read  this research paper   looking at the impact of precipitation on these trees in this location.

The graph above shows the past twenty years of precipitation data for the Kirindy Forestry Reserve in Madagascar. Click on the graph above to make it larger and take some time to analyze the data.

Think about these questions:

1. When does this region get the most precipitation? About how many mm fall per month during this season?

2. When does it get the least? About how many mm fall per month during this season?

3. What patterns and trends do you observe in this twenty year record of precipitation data?

4. What form do you think most of this precipitation is? (frozen or liquid)

5. How might the amount of precipitation that falls seasonally impact the kinds of trees that grow here?

Fulufjället Mountain, Finland

"Old Tjikko is a 9,550 year-old  Norway spruce , located on  Fulufjället  mountain in the  Dalarna  province of  Sweden . Old Tjikko was once thought of as the "world's oldest tree.". Later it was determined that it is a " clonal  tree" that has regenerated new trunks, branches and roots over millennia rather than an  individual tree  of great age. Old Tjikko is recognized as the oldest living  Picea abies  and the fourth oldest known  clonal tree ." (from Wikipedia).

Above is the graph showing twenty years of precipitation data for the location of Old Tjikko. Click on the graph to make it larger,and use the data to answer the questions below:

1. Are the patterns and trends for precipitation as clear to identify as they were for the Balboa tree in Madagascar? Why or why not?

2. During which season do you think the precipitation is falling as snow?

3. What factors other than precipitation influence the kinds of trees that grow in a region?

 Here  is a research paper which looks at the impact of precipitation and temperature on Norway spruce trees.

Damascus, Maryland, USA

Dorian Janney is a NASA Outreach Coordinator and GLOBE Program Education Work Group member who lives in Damascus, Maryland in the USA.

She selected a young red maple tree that is growing in her front yard. This red maple,  Acer rubrum , was planted in the location where a beautiful Norwegian maple stood for over sixty years before falling after a summer thunderstorm. She looks forward to the shade that this tree will provide to the house in the warmer months as it grows bigger. This species of tree can grow up to 60 feet tall.

"The red maple does need regular water, which is one of the reasons that it does so well here in Damascus, MD. We generally will get about 100 to 150 mm precipitation monthly, and rarely need to water this tree by hand (or hose!)."

The WaterShed, Boise, ID, USA

The City of Boise is dedicated to providing its citizens with opportunities to learn about our unique local environment and ways to live sustainably within it. Boise Environmental Education (BEE) is a multi-agency partnership providing environmental lessons and programs to children and adults.

This beautiful 16.3 meter sycamore ( Platanus occidentalis ) tree welcomes visitors as they enter the WaterShed. Although this species of tree needs watering when it is young, it can tolerate moderate drought. Idaho has been suffering from a prolonged period of drought. Learn more about how NASA monitors drought condition in the American West below.

Prague, Czech Republic

 Bára Semeráková  has been a representative of Regional Coordination Office for GLOBE Europe and Eurasia since July 2012. Her first encounter with GLOBE started during her studies in high school when she joined The GLOBE Program as a student (1997-1999).

Bara chose a maple tree (Acer platanoides) which grows on a small hill about 5 minutes from her home that she passes very often when she goes for a walk.

"The hill is a green area at the edge of the newly built residential and commercial area covering former brownfield. The surroundings used to be an industrial area during the 20th century, with this small hilly green patch at the edge.

Since the factory closed down and the place turned rather abandoned, the location has become a hideout for plants, trees, birds and even bigger animals, such as deer. In last five years, the whole brownfield was restored into completely new neighborhood, most of the area turned into housing and paved roads. Luckily, as you can see, the green hill was kept green (although slightly more cultivated) and as a semi-natural area serves to local people for walks and picnics even today. The former deer “inhabitants” of the brownfield are commemorated by several deer statues made of wood."

Bara noted many events after viewing the IMERG data for this location. She says

"Some of the precipitation extreme years that I remember are caught nicely there.

Both 2018 and 2019 were extremely dry in the whole Czech Republic, and thanks to that, my harvest of tomatoes was excellent 😊 - When comparing that to 2021, when it was raining a lot in spring and early summer, which resulted in tomato plants being damaged by mold.

If I go back to history, there was severe flood in Prague in 2002 summer as a result of a long heavy rain episode, seriously damaging the underground tunnels and old town district as well. The floods tormented all Central European countries that August."

Bara shared some links to learn more about severe flooding events which occured in Europe.

Gozo College, Victoria, Malta

 Ramona Mercieca   is the GLOBE Deputy Country Coordinator for Malta. Ramona loves this beautiful   Aleppo Pine   (Pinus halepensis) which is known as the Znuber tree in Maltese.  

This beautiful drought resistant tree is being planted in many regions as it helps reduce erosion as well as improves water filtration.

By taking a land cover observation from this tree, we get a much broader understanding of the location of this tree as well as its environment. We see that green vegetation is lush during this season, and there is much biodiversity as well as the impact of humans.

Her tree height measurement data not only shows us how tall her tree is, but she also measured the tree's circumference. As she continues to make measurements on this tree, she can monitor its growth and health.

The seasonal precipitation shows a definite dry period in June, July, and August, and there a very wet period in September, October, and November. Looking more closely at the seasonal data, we also see that there is a fairly dry period during March, April, and May. Thus vegetation in this part of Malta must be able to tolerate very little precipitation for an entire six months.

Litochoro, Mt. Olympus National Park, Greece, EU

 Athanasios , "Thanos", Theodorakopoulos shared data from Livadaki in Mt. Olympus National Park in Greece. This tree is located on a large plateau where there is a small building that is used for an emergency shelter belonging to the Litochoro Alpine Club with a capacity of 6 people.

The tree that he selected to share with this project is a  Black pine  (Pinus heldreichii ). He did some research on this species and says:

"At elevations between 1400 and 2500 m, the zone of cold-hardy conifers (Vaccinio-Picetalia) emerges. The predominant species of pine is the rare Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii), which makes its first appearance at 1100 m, gradually replacing black pine (Pinus nigra) and forming unmixed forests up to 2000 meters. Areas with Bosnian pine are usually dry with rocky slopes. The vegetation that grows in this region is adapted to specific local conditions and is represented by characteristic shrubs, grasses, chasmophytes, while the flora includes many endemic species of the Balkans."

Prague, Czech Republic

 Lenka Klege r shared her data for an English oak ( Quercus robur)  taken in Prague, Czech Republic. Lenka said:

"The tree grows in a park close to the place, where I live. Thank to the trees, the park stays cool even on hot days and provides plenty of shade. I like to spend there time with my family and my kids love to play there around the trees."

Karlovac, Croatia

 Snježana Marković-Zoraja  teaches at the Dubovac primary school in Karlovac, Croatia. The tree that she selected is a  European White Birch  (Betula pendula L.) The literature about this species of tree suggest to "Keep the tree consistently moist and consider using soaker hoses and bark mulches to keep the root zones cool and moist."