Questions about tree characteristics and ecology
What type of tree has the strongest wood?
The hardest wood in the world belongs to the Australian Buloke.
Which tree has the softest or least strongest wood?
The softest wood in the world belongs to the Cuipo tree.
How long do trees live?
Different trees have different lifespans. The bristlecone pine tree can live 3000-4000 years. Giant sequoias can live 3000 years. Locally, some cedar trees have been living longer than 1000 years. The largest deciduous trees in our forests – sugar maple, ash, beech, oak – can live 300 years. Some trees like poplars only live 30-50 years.
How and why do trees grow with more than one trunk?
Some trees start growing close together and as they grow, combine to form a tree that shares roots and a trunk. The process is called inosculation.
How and why do trees have so many roots?
Some trees absorb up to a cubic metre of water in one day. In order to drink that much water, big trees need lots of roots. The larger the root system, the less likely the tree will be to blow over in a storm.
How do trees help to clean the air?
Trees absorb air pollution like nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide out of the air. The pollutants are stored in the leaves and bark and break down over time. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is removed from the air when trees photosynthesize. The carbon is stored in the tree until it dies and then is returned to the atmosphere.
How do the trees breathe?
The process of photosynthesis occurs in the leaves of a tree, as they “breathe” in carbon dioxide, which is made of carbon and oxygen. The tree keeps the carbon (trees are made of carbon), and returns the oxygen to the atmosphere. During respiration, animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Respiration and photosynthesis are kind of opposite processes.
How do trees help the wild animals?
Trees provide food for animals in the form of pollen, leaves, berries and nuts. Trees provide shelter for animals’ homes. Squirrels, birds, monkeys,and thousands of species of insects make their homes in trees.
Questions about small, large, old, rare trees
What is the oldest tree in the world?
This bristlecone pine tree in California is estimated to be 4800 years old. People call it “Methuselah.”
How many years old is the biggest tree?
The biggest tree in the world is “General Sherman,” a 2200 year-old giant sequoia tree in California. It is the world’s biggest tree in volume.
Where is the tallest tree in the world?
The tallest tree in the world is a 115m redwood, in California.
What is the tallest tree in Canada and where is it?
The tallest tree in Canada, is a Sitka Spruce, 96m tall and about 600 years old, in BC.
What is the rarest tree you can find in Canada?
The PawPaw is one of the rarest, known from only about 12 sites in Canada (all Ontario), although it used to be fairly common. Others would include American Chestnut, Butternut, Cherry Birch, Cucumber Tree, Limber Pine, and Red Mulberry, to name a few.
What is the smallest tree in the world? Where is the smallest tree in the world?
According to BBC Earth, the smallest tree in the world is the dwarf willow, which is only 1-6 cm in height.
Questions for Outdoor Education team
What’s the coolest looking tree that you have seen?
One of the coolest trees I have seen was shaped like a chair. About knee-high, its trunk is bent like an ‘L’. It is located at Presqu’ile PP.
Can we do more challenges like this?
Yes!
Which outdoor center has the biggest tree?
Blair Outdoor Education Centre has a 396 cm Red Oak, but there might be larger trees at Laurel Creek Nature Centre.
How do you feel about people cutting trees down and why?
I prefer keeping as many trees alive as possible. However, I accept that trees can be harvested sustainably and that my life has been materially improved by the harvest of trees.
How many trees are there in the world?
It is estimated there are 3 trillion trees in the world.
Questions about specific trees
Which tree do beavers prefer?
Beavers like poplar trees, aspen, and willow, but will cut down trees of many different species.
How old can a White Pine tree grow?
The oldest in Ontario is over 500 years old, found preserved underwater at Swan Lake in Algonquin Park.
What type of tree needs the most care?
If trees are left to grow in their natural habitats, they don’t need our care. If you plant a tree in a place where it normally doesn’t live, it might need help to survive.
Where are Tulip and Sycamore trees from originally?
Both of these types of trees are indigenous to Ontario. They are only found in the extreme southern part of Ontario.
What type of trees can survive in deserts and/or very hot weather?
Mesquite trees and acacia trees live in the desert.
Which tree has the biggest leaves?
I had to look this one up… the tree with the largest leaves in the world is Raphia raphia, called the Raffia Palm, found in Angola, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, and Nigeria.
How many more years will the tree in the Monster Tree video (Wishing Willow Tree) be able to live?
The willow tree in the video is probably less than 100 years old… the oldest Willow in North America is only 85 years old! Black willow trees may only live about 50 years.