Finding the more adaptable tree
Trees are living organisms. And like all living organisms, trees are totally dependent on their environment for a successful life. They need nutrient rich soils. They need sunlight for energy, carbon dioxide from the air to make new tissue for growth and oxygen at night to generate the energy for life processes. Trees need rain for the water to keep their leaves from wilting. And they depend on a wide variety of other organisms, from fungi to assist with absorbing minerals to squirrels that carry their seeds far and wide. So it stands to reason that if the environment is getting less reliable, the trees that will survive into the future are the ones that can adapt to changing conditions. This is the premise the drives the research of Katharina Braeutigam, a researcher who studies the epigenetics of trees at the University of Toronto. What about the expression of a tree's genes can make it more adaptable? Finding out may give trees a better chance to go on doing the job we depend