Yellow-cedar are dying in Alaska: Scientists now know why

Resource: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2012/02/01/yellowcedar_are_dying_in_alaska_scientists_now_know_why.html Summary: Yellow-cedar trees have been dieing across Alaska and British Columbia for the past one hundred years and researchers are just finding out why. "The cause of tree death, called yellow-cedar decline, is now known to be a form of root freezing that occurs during cold weather in late winter and early spring, but only when snow is not present on the ground," explains Pacific Northwest Research Station scientist Paul Hennon, co-lead of a synthesis paper recently published in the February issue of the journal BioScience. "When present, snow protects the fine, shallow roots from extreme soil temperatures. The shallow rooting of yellow-cedar, early spring growth, and its unique vulnerability to freezing injury also contribute to this problem." These researchers also realized that the yellow-cedar afffects up to 70 percent of the trees. It is also used for a lot of things, such as paddles, dishes and more. So they are trying to figure out ways to make sure that these trees stay alive. Critique: This article was very good and got me interested i would recommend that if you want to know more go to the link and read the article. Impact: The fact that these trees are dieing is a huge impact on people and the earth. Many people need these trees to help them make things and to survive. Also trees create oxygen, the less oxygen we have the less air we breathe which is not a good thing. So these people really need to hurry up and get to saving those trees.