Question

1- when cutting the bark of the three with an axe, why is the force of impact important to consider? what tissues are they trying to protect? and waht will happen if we cut the three too deep?

2- what directional- type of plant growth allows for cork havesting? will this affect the ability to determine the age of the three? why ?

3- which tissue layer is removed upon the cork harvest? how is it possible to harvest more cork in nine years?

4- what can we do to ensure that cork oak remains a sustainable resource for future generations?

Answer 1

1.When cutting a tree with an axe the forces of impact are important to consider because beneath the bark there are thr fibers of the phloem.When the cut in the tree is too deep it will cause cut in the phloem fibers that carry thesynthesised food to the different parts of the tree mainly to the roots.This will cause the roots to suffer with no food and eventually the roots die leading to the death of the whole tree itself.

2. Cork is the outer bark of the oak tree.After the original rough outer bark is removed,the inner bark forms an outer sheath of bark.This outer sheath is harvested as cork .This outer sheath can be easily regenerated by the plant and the harvesting wil not affect the functions of the plant.

The cork is formed by the secondary lateral growth of the tree. The harvesting of the cork doesnot afeect the age determination of the tree because the cells roduced towards the innerpart of the tree aids towards the ring formation.The cork is the outer layer of the outer bark.

3.Newly formed Outer bark. It is possible to harvest cork every 9 yeras because the harvest being done in the time when there is active cell growth ,the tree can produce and replenish the removed cork and this reache sthe desired quantity within 9 years.

4.To ensure a sustainable future we must plant more oak forests and form a scientific method and routine of harvesting.Also develop other resouces that can be obtained from the forest and methods that can interlink with the oak forest ecosystem.we can practice parallel activities such as cattle farming,medicinal plant growing etc.