Trees in the Ecosystem

Trees and Taxonomic list of Trees in Maine…..                       Tree Identification in Maine…..

Trees are the great provider within an ecosystem.

>Trees use carbon dioxide to make food from the sun in the process of photosynthesis, and in return put clean oxygen back into the air.

>Trees are an important part of healthy water cycles.  Through transpiration, moisture evaporates from the leaves of the tree putting moisture into the air.  When it rains, the roots of trees help to hold the soil intact preventing runoff of nutrients in the topsoil and pollutants in sediment that fills up streams and waterways.  This is especially critical for fish, amphibians and reptiles that depend on clean water for their life-cycle.

>Trees fertilize the soil they grow in.  When leaves decay at the base of a tree, nutrients are returned to the soil.  During an entire life cycle of a broadleaf, deciduous tree, 70% of its nutrients can be returned to the soil for the next generation of trees to grow on.

>Trees benefit wildlife in other ways by providing shelter for the animals that live among the branches and food such as nuts, fruit and berries.  All of this goodness benefits humans too!  Just like the wildlife, humans need oxygen to breathe and depend on clean water for drinking and cooking.  Our homes are built from trees providing us shelter.  Many homes in Maine rely on firewood to keep warm during the cold winter months and trees provide cool shade on hot summer days.  Trees provide for the Maine economy too.  There are more than 200 forest product businesses that employ Maine residents and the forest provides many recreational activities that would not otherwise be available without the forest.

>Very few trees are planted in Maine because of the ideal growing conditions of this renewable resource.  You can read more about the forests in the Ecosystem section of the Nature Library.