Old Age

[JamesTX]

Willie, James said "no pests". So even though you and Squishey have to stay away neither you nor bugs would have to be the something that clobber the poor old tree. Even if we define fungi and bacteria as pests there is still the matter of weather events. A storm that would have had no effect on a young tree or would have broken a few branches and the young tree would have recovered can break down a senescent tree to the point it lacks the ability to recover.

What I was trying to ask was - in the absence of any external event, would a tree ever die. Hard to define those terms.

My understanding is that a human dies, absent any external event, because the cell reproduction start to breakdown and errors are introduced into the system. But a tree seems to be different.

Anyway, thanks for the answers.

 

[Stumper]

You are welcome but next time stick to something simple that we can all agree upon-such as the meaning of the life.

 

[Old Monkey]

There is whole field of science dedicated to figuring why we die. That mechanism still isn't very well understood.

 

[Al Smith]

All death can be related to the heart .Once it quits ,no matter what anybody says,you're dead as a door nail .

 

[Mr. Sir]

Speaking of hearts...

A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop. The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?"

The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make $39,675 a year and you get the really big bucks ($1,695,759) when you and I are doing basically the same work?"







The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic...





''Try doing it with the engine running."

 

[Frans]

What I was trying to ask was - in the absence of any external event, would a tree ever die. Hard to define those terms.

My understanding is that a human dies, absent any external event, because the cell reproduction start to breakdown and errors are introduced into the system. But a tree seems to be different.

Why is a tree different?

You have fallen into a very common trap. A trap which usually the uninformed fall into.

Just because a tree has a life span that far exceeds your own, does not mean for an instant that it's life span is similar to your own.

Does that make sense?

Lemme try another way; Just because a tree's life span is greater than your own does not mean that it (the life span of a tree) is infinite. It is simply different, thats all.

Presently a human lives to just under a 100 years, give or take. Most trees live far longer. That does not mean that they are not answerable to the same degradation that we (humans) experience.

 

[Stumper]

Most trees live far longer. That does not mean that they are not answerable to the same degradation that we (humans) experience.

Well......not necessarily. You probably won't see pictures of Brittney Spruce getting out of a car revealing a lack of underwear.........

 

[Al Smith]

Now that would be rather splintery,so to speak .Termites could be a problem one would think .

 

[darkstar]

The forest service gives out a coloring and activity book that tells kids to urge their parents to harvest the forest responsible before the trees get old and dangerous.

Are you serious Darin?
I was in Prentice Cooper yesterday and discovered a very large trac of land completly deforested.
This place is supposed to be a state forest and wild life reserve.
So they go in cut all the trees down
I wish they could do like in austria, just culling the trees all the while keeping the forest.

 

[Al Smith]

The forest service gives out a coloring and activity book that tells kids to urge their parents to harvest the forest responsible before the trees get old and dangerous.

I think it then gets in the realm of politics .

Much ado about clear cuts ,old growth etc . I suppose it just depends on the regional situation .Locally it's pretty much a selective thing .Depending on the situation the cuts are about 20 or so years apart .

In the Carolinas or the western slopes they grow trees like we grow corn .There certain clear cuts make sense .The trees all grow at about the same rate then after 50-60 years you cut them again . Evidently they have figured out when is the most optimum time to harvest in terms of years of growth .

In this soil we could grow them in likely 30 or so years but they wouldn't fetch as much money as the corn would .Besides that pay day is a long time in between .

 

[sotc]

selective thinning is nice but trees like doug-fir dont do well as an understory tree so to effectively re-plant you need clearings