© Linda & Dr. Dick BuscherThis photo shows the General Sherman Tree found in Sequoia National Park, believed to be the world's largest tree by volume. Large trees like this are in decline, according to a new study.
Big, old trees are in decline throughout the world, which spells trouble for the forests in which they play such an important role, a new study finds.
These elders of the forest do many things that smaller, younger trees cannot; for example, providing homes for many types of animals, providing space for other plants to grow in
tropical rainforests and producing large amounts of seeds that serve as food for other animals and replenish tree populations, according to the study, published today (Dec. 6) in the journal
Science.Old trees also store an enormous amount of carbon and continue to sequester it as they grow, even in their old age, said study co-author David Lindenmayer, a researcher at Australian National University. One study published in
PLoS ONE in May found that although big trees, with a diameter of more than 3 feet (1 meter) at chest height, made up only 1 percent of trees in a study plot in California's
Yosemite National Park, they accounted for 50 percent of the area's biomass.
