Professor Alistair Jump
Trees keep a record of their growing conditions each year in the annual growth rings that they set down in their trunk during wood formation. The width of each ring and its other characteristics can tell us a lot about how their environment is changing over time – from changing drought stress to competition between neighbouring trees or even when they produced a heavy seed crop. We can learn this information from living trees by extracting a small core from the stem, without harming the tree, and then using basic woodworking techniques to look at the rings in detail before measuring them and comparing them with climate records and other environmental data.
Join us for a short demonstration of tree coring on campus and a brief discussion about the sorts of information we can learn from trees about their environment and why this is so important to help us understand their past and plan for their future.
This activity is delivered in partnership with local charity Treelink Stirling, which helps to grow, plant, manage and speak up for trees in the local area.
Max 20 participants
2pm – 3pm
Sun 18th Sept