• Question: What happens to the cells in a tree trunk when the tree is cut down?

    Asked by InxAlfa to Eoin, Ester, Natasha, Paul on 15 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Eoin McKinney

      Eoin McKinney answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      The cells will eventually die if they can’t get enough nutrients (plants get these through their roots so the cells would run out of energy and building blocks fairly soon). The tree has produced substances that aren’t dependent on live cells, though, like bark for instance. This can persist until it is broken down by bacteria (more cells!) and recycled for nutrients for the next generation of trees.

    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 16 Nov 2017:

      My understanding of it is that a lot of the trunk of the tree isnt alive anyway. Like Eion says, the plant gets nutrients from the roots, and the leaves at the top convert this to energy – the trunk in the middle is essentially a plumbing system to carry water and nutrients up and down from the leaves to the roots and vice versa. So when the tree is cut down, the cells recognise that there is nowhere to take the nutrients too, and the roots stop growing so the tree dies.

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