Summer Modeling Project

The purpose of my modeling project is to show how old growth forests react to prolonged drought. As climate change continues to alter ecosystems, the amount of water available to trees will drastically change. How much change will be too much?

The tree that I modeled was the white oak. This tree can live up to 600 years, and can be 100 ft tall. These trees use photosynthesis to get their food. Photosynthesis is extremely inefficient and requires crazy amounts of water. Most trees use 90% of the water that they get from their roots for photosynthesis. This means that the amount of water that trees consume matters greatly on the weather. If it is a sunny day, a tree will use as much water as it can get, but if it is a dark cool day, a tree won't use much water at all. Regardless, trees still need a minimal amount of water to survive. For most white oaks, this is 19 gallons a day. Trees that get less than 19 gallons a day will be fine, but if left too long without water, they will become stressed. If the trees continue to be without water, they will die.

scorces: Scores:

https://www.ewra.net/ew/pdf/EW_2017_59_34.pdf

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

https://inharmony.com/water-your-trees-to-help-them-survive/#:~:text=Drought%20kills%20trees%20when%20the,cannot%20make%20food%20by%20photosynthesis.&text=But%20if%20a%20tree%20is,water%20to%20the%20tree%20roots.