Crescent Shadows On-Line Newsletter of the Hudson Valley Pagan Network, Inc.

Trees are a vital part of many ecosystems. The canopy provides shade, to keep things cool. The branches provide perches, and places for nests. The fruit, leaves, bark, flowers, and wood provide food for myriad creatures at different times. And trees do all this with three simple ingredients: water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sunlight. In fact, we might consider trees the general store of the forest ecosystem.

The value of a tree to its ecosystem does not end when the tree dies. It is then that the contribution of the tree increases. During its life, a tree provides structure to its community: shade and protection; soil stabilization to prevent erosion; nesting and perching habitat; uptake of carbon dioxide and storage of carbon in the woody trunk, limbs, and branches; living surface for insects, lichens, mosses, fungi, and other epiphytes such as mistletoe, ground cober in the mast of fallen trees.

After death, the tree will provide structural support as well, for a while. If the tree is still standing at death, it may be hollow and provide homes for animals and birds. If the tree falls, different animals will burrow into it or under it or find protection near it. Sometimes tree seeds will land on the dead tree, which then becomes a nurse log, providing support and nutrition for the young tree. As the young tree grows, its roots will grow around and down the fallen tree, so that when the nurse log is completely decayed, there will be hollows under the trunk.

As a tree grows, it stores carbon. Carbon is an essential element for all life on Earth. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees (all other plants do this too) combine water and carbon dioxide into simple sugars in the leaves, and then transport these sugars to the woody trunk where the sugars are combined into complex cellulose and lignin molecules for structure and storage. We can think of trees as carbon banks. Each year a tree produces leaves; and each year drops some or all of them. The bulk of the carbon investment, however, is saved in the woody trunk, branches and roots. We could think of the fallen leaves as annual carbon withdrawals from the bank.

It is after death, that the tree bank is bust wide open. By then, the fungi and the insects are able to go to work. Chemically and mechanically, they begin to break the wood into smaller bits. It is the fungi that are most beneficial, because they are very sloppy consumers of cellulose. The fungi secrete digestive enzymes onto the wood to break it down. As a result, there is leakage and other organisms can feast on the leftovers. These organisms are then eaten by others. When they die, they become part of the soil and provide nutrients for the next generation of tree banks.

Recycling at its finest.

- Susan Grace Moore

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Last Updated: September 24, 2002
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