What are trees in colder climates “doing” during the winter time when everything is frozen and they have no leaves? Are they hibernating?
In: 267
Essentially yes , deciduous trees are mostly asleep , they pretty much shut down and just coast the winter months away, evergreens have a very complex system that lets them survive winter and keep their needles , it invokes anti freeze like proteins and stuff that make it so that ice doesn’t form in their cells and they can keep on going albeit not as fast as warmer seasons
Deciduous trees have no such systems in place so rather then have a very expensive time keeping their leaves up for little to no gain they just drop everything and make all new buds.
It works in the favour of the trees as well since old leaves actually are less efficient then younger ones so constantly recycling every year is beneficial , plus fallen leaves act as good fertilizers for young tree seedlings.
Trees actually become reliant on it for their yearly cycle , they “know” it’s spring when it’s warmer and can flower and fruit , if you stick a lot of cold climate plants in the tropics they may never flower or fruit ever
Latest Answers