How do trees die?

Eventually weather, pests and disease will take their toll, but the story doesn’t end there. Emanuel David / 500px via Getty Images Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. How and why do trees die? – Anish K., age 11, Boston, Massachusetts Trees can die suddenly or quite slowly. Fire, flood or wind can cause a quick death by severely damaging a tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients up and down its trunk. Sometimes a serious insect attack or disease can kill a tree. This kind of death usually takes from a few months to a couple of years. Again, a tree loses its ability to move water and nutrients, but does so in stages, more slowly. A tree can also die of what you might call old age. I am a scientist who studies trees and the web of living things that surround them. The death of a tree is not exactly what it seems, because it directly leads to new life. Different trees, different life spans An ancient bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) in Patriarch Grove in California’s White Mountains....