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The redwood trees of California are unique due to their size and location. They thrive in an area that is not plentiful in terms of ground water.
The question was how did they grow so large even with the limited ground water available?
The redwoods save energy by using gravity to help their input water flow down from their leaves to their roots.
The redwoods have a unique location that simulates the world of an earlier time.
Food for thought.
A study was done and what was found is that redwoods get most of their water through their leaves.
Quote from: puppypower on 25/07/2021 16:47:35A study was done and what was found is that redwoods get most of their water through their leaves.Do you have a link for that?I was able to locate studies that say that redwoods during the summer can take up as much as 1/2 of there water through their leaves. So these studies are clearly not saying most. So I was wondering if there was a new study or you were just exaggerating. Thanks
The 50% water through leaves and roots could maintain ionic balances. This offers many advantages in terms of energy usage.
Just a theory.
I hand these out as research projects for young people.
Quote from: puppypower on 27/07/2021 12:05:43 The 50% water through leaves and roots could maintain ionic balances. This offers many advantages in terms of energy usage.Lets consider a few ions.Potassium, phosphate calcium and magnesium ions are important to plants.The plants get these from the soil. They can not get them from the air.So, either the plant uses the solar powered flow of water from the ground to transport the ions to the growing tips of the plant; or it has to transport the minerals upwards, against the flow of water going down.Can you explain why the second of these plans is more efficient?Quote from: puppypower on 27/07/2021 12:05:43Just a theory.No; not a theory, a WAG.Quote from: puppypower on 27/07/2021 12:05:43I hand these out as research projects for young people.I hope they have the sense to hand them back.
Say there is not a lot of water around the tree.
If the leaves can take in water
there is not a lot of water around the tree.
Also any surplus water will respire from the roots and set up a water rich micro-environment, in the soil around the tree even in droughts.
If I placed a salt tablet on the bottom of a glass of pure water, the salt will eventually reach the top of the glass via entropy, until there is more or less a balance of salt concentration throughout the glass.
Two directions offers brakes both ways.
The mistake you are making is treating the redwood tree like a pipe where water flows from top to bottom
The roots feed off that chemical energy and used that energy to pump minerals and water to the top of the tree.
Potassium ions, which is the main mineral of plants,