10 interesting facts about trees and forests

In 2015, scientists estimated that there are at least 3 trillion trees growing on our planet. The record holder for their number is Russia, because. we have at least 640 billion of them.

More than 60 thousand species of trees are known. They can be divided into coniferous, evergreen, and deciduous. In turn, the latter are divided into broad-leaved (ash, beech, maple), deciduous and evergreen. If you want to learn more about these plants, read on for 10 Interesting Tree Facts.

10 The forest is the lungs of the planet

Approximately one third of all land is covered by forests. Plants need light energy to synthesize organic substances. This process is called photosynthesis. Its by-product is oxygen.

It is only thanks to plants that we can breathe, because. they produce 99% of oxygen, and only 1% comes from the mantle of our planet. At night, when the process of photosynthesis is impossible, trees and other plants begin to consume oxygen, but they consume it in smaller quantities than they produce.

Oxygen is produced not only by trees, but also by all plants that inhabit our planet, including microscopic algae that form phytoplankton.

9. The total area of ​​forests on Earth is almost a third of the land surface

The forest on our planet occupies about 38 million km², i.e. trees cover about a third of the land. By the beginning of the 50st century, people had destroyed about 7% of the forests that existed on the planet. They tried to somehow compensate for the damage that they caused to nature and planted new forests, but they occupy no more than XNUMX% of the entire territory reserved for trees.

Forests need to be revived, because only thanks to them the air is purified, they absorb industrial pollution, many trees emit phytoncides with bactericidal properties.

In coniferous forests, the air is almost sterile. If you visit nature more often, immunity increases, metabolism improves, the nervous system calms down, etc.

8. Taiga occupies about 79% of the entire territory of Russia

Our country occupies a huge territory, and 79% of all this land is covered with taiga. This is a special landscape area with swampy soil, where coniferous trees grow. The width of this strip is 800 km, but in the east of Siberia it becomes even larger – up to 2200 km.

Winter here lasts 10 months. Most animals hibernate during this time. In winter, the temperature can drop to -60 degrees, and in summer it rises to +35 degrees. Taiga is rich in fur-bearing animals, here you can see more than 800 species of flowers, 300 species of birds, some of which are listed in the Red Book.

7. The most common deciduous tree in the world is the birch.

In the Northern Hemisphere, including in Russia, one of the most common deciduous plants is birch.. There are more than 100 types of birch. This is the most important forest-forming species that can grow almost everywhere, because. not demanding on the soil, lives long enough (100-120 years, some trees live up to 400 years), grows rapidly when compared with others.

As soon as a place is vacated in the forest due to clearings or fires, young birch trees begin to settle in first, which can later be replaced by spruce trees.

6. One of the hardest trees in the world – Schmidt birch

Another name for this tree is iron birch. It was named after the botanist Fyodor Schmidt, who first discovered this species. It is not so common, it grows only in the south of Primorsky Krai, as well as in China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. She lives up to 350 years.

The wood of the Schmidt birch is heavy and hard, it sinks in water, and is particularly durable.. Usually it is a tall tree, up to 25 m, some of them grow up to 35 m, with a trunk diameter of 70 to 80 cm. They have a beige, grayish bark, in young seedlings it is almost brown, and in branches – a dark, cherry shade.

5. From one tree you can get about 60 kg of paper

To obtain paper, you need not wood, but cellulose, for the production of which some forest species are used..

Special machines remove the bark from the trees, and the tree itself is crushed into small chips. Then they are mixed with water and processed, pressed, smoothed. This is how newsprint is made.

If better quality is needed, cellulose must be treated with chemical materials. From such sheets you can print notebooks or books.

To obtain premium paper, wood material is boiled, washed, filtered, then pressed, rolled and smoothed, and then dried at a certain temperature.

4. The tallest trees in the world are sequoias.

Sequoia is an evergreen native to North America. They can live up to 2 thousand years, grow up to 110 m. This is a tree with a conical crown and horizontal branches, with thick, up to 30 cm thick, red-brown bark. Often grow up to 60-90 m.

But the largest tree on Earth was named one of the specimens of this tree, which received the name “Hyperion”. Its height is 115 m. It grows in California (USA), in the Redwood National Park. It was discovered in 61.

3. Siberia is the most forested place in Russia

Siberia, except for the Far East, occupies an area of ​​12 million square meters. km, and about two-thirds of this entire territory is taiga forests. They begin in the European part of our country, cover the entire Urals, Altai, and all of Western, Eastern Siberia, capturing the Far East as well. They stretch for 9 thousand kilometers.

Taiga is approximately 80% of the entire forest fund of our country. It, like other forests, occupies almost half of the territory of our country (45%), and if we take the global forest area – as much as 17%. The northern hemisphere of the Earth is enriched with oxygen thanks to this forest.

2. The crown of an oak tree grows by about one meter per year.

Acorns germinate very slowly, because. first, the root forms and grows, and only then does the aerial part appear.

The first few years oak grows very slowly. A seedling 30-50 cm long should grow 4-6 years. It is at this age that it can be transplanted to a permanent place. At 5-7 years old, a young oak grows up to 1 m, it is from 5-10 years old that its intensive growth begins.

There are some types of oak, such as redleaf, which grow faster. It is difficult to say exactly how much a particular tree will stretch per year, because. Each plant has its own growth rate. But an oak increases by about 1 m per year, i.e. in 10 years it can grow by 8-9 m or more.

1. Least forest among European countries in the UK

Once upon a time, huge deciduous forests grew in Great Britain. The Celts lived here, worshiping trees, especially oaks, treated them with reverence and awe.

But soon these lands were conquered by the Anglo-Saxon tribes, who began to cut down forests and cultivate the land. This process continued for more than one century, and as a result by the end of the 10th century, the area of ​​forests in this country had decreased to XNUMX% of the entire territory of the island.

Now there you can find mixed or taiga forests. The most common trees in this area are beech, birch and oak. There are moorlands in the mountains, which have become pastures for sheep, and peat bogs are also found.

The plains are arable lands and meadows, they are densely populated. Huge forest areas have been replaced by small woodlands. But, despite this, England seems to be a green country thanks to hedges, lepobels, and various farm plantations.