By Katherine Latham, BBC
By simulating the future atmosphere, scientists hope to understand whether trees will continue to act as the lungs of the planet.
“The oak is the queen of her domain,” says Rob MacKenzie as he gestures towards a giant towering above us. This oak tree has stood in this very spot since long before he or I walked the Earth.
It is early winter when MacKenzie, an atmospheric scientist and director of Birmingham University Institute of Forest Research, leads me further into this small patch of woodland here in Staffordshire, England.
He treads steadily along the track, snow crunching underfoot. The low winter Sun casts long shadows, and a few birds, braving the cold, sing to each other across the forest. Autumn’s final leaves tumble to the ground – where they land not on the floor, but in nets. Because this is no ordinary forest.
Where roots tangle across the earth, pipes and wires intertwine. This forest has plumbing. Silhouetted oak, birch and sycamore trees stand shoulder to shoulder with towering metal frames supporting drainpipes, which reach up to the very tops of the trees…
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Trees Might Not Be Acting the Way We Thought. By Katherine Latham.