system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Do trees have a life span, or will they continue to grow if not damaged or diseased?
gpt
**Edited to correct stuff.**

Many trees can live for an exceptionally long time. The oldest known trees are over 5,000 years old. 

Trees are an interesting case because, as they grow older, they also grow *faster*. This basically means that the older they get, they’re simply more and more likely to die of a disease or other event. Also, when a tree gets old, it has trouble protecting most of its inner heartwood and/or exterior. This means it cannot fight damage as well as when it was younger. 

The most common way a tree would die of “old age” would be through this process: 
> Woody plants heal through by compartmentalizing the damage, sealing it off from the rest of the plant. This is called CODIT. This process happens in four steps, called “walls“. The process happens like this:

>Wall 1: The tree blocks the transport tubes surrounding the wound, thereby preventing the wound/infection from spreading further.


>Wall 2: The tree then builds a ring around the wound or infection to prevent it from spreading inward. This acts as a barrier providing further protection.


>Wall 3: The tree then sections the wound laterally. This prevents the infection or wound from spreading circularly, keeping it from spreading left or right.


>Wall 4: As the trunk grows, the tree’s new growth rings seal off the infection or wound. This prevents it from spreading outward into the new growth.


>When a tree gets extremely old, it begins to lose this ability to compartmentalize and eventually causes the tree to die. Trees that still have leaves on them but their trunks are completely hollow is an example of wall 4 beginning to fail. Unless the wall 4 step has succeeded just in the nick of time, the tree will soon die. 

Hopefully this makes sense? It might not be exactly what you were hoping for.