What Does Hot Weather Do To Trees?

How Weather Can Really Do A Number On Trees

Here at DR Trees Redmond, we frequently see dangerous effects on trees during the summer months. Due to global warming and other factors, many places are recording the highest temperatures in history or a long time. Additionally, there is usually very little rainfall during this period. They would like to know the changes in the trees when temperature increase especially during summer and what they can do to ensure that the trees flourish despite high temperatures.

Help Your Trees With Calcium

Calcium is also important for helping the tree adapt to the stress due to rising temperatures. It helps to stabilize the cell membranes in leaves and other parts, modulate the activity of the enzymes in the tree. Often physical changes are observed to adapt to high temperatures. More leaf waxes and hairs are formed on the leaves. The leaf morphology or orientation may change to reduce the amount of light that is intercepted by the leaves. Often the leaves of some plants are wilting during the day, and some trees may shed their leaves.

Preparing a tree for hotter weather has been done by arborists for many years. The tree should be planted in the fertile soil of high quality and soil fertility should be managed. The tree should be irrigated properly so that it receives enough water. It is also advisable to sample the soil to check the amount of calcium, other nutrients in the soil, and other physical properties of the soil. This will help in using the right type of fertilizers to improve the soil for the tree and help the tree flourish in all weather conditions including hot weather.

Watch Out For Physical Changes

Tree owners should be aware that there is a decrease in photosynthesis rate when temperatures rise and this decrease is faster than the reduction is respiration. This results in an imbalance since the carbohydrates produced are used up faster. At higher temperatures, more water evaporates through the stomata of the leaf to cool the tree through the transpiration, so more water has to be transported by the roots to the leaves, stem, and branches. The membranes of the cells in the leaves are also unstable at higher temperatures, and ions may leak in the cell structure of the leaf.

Trees are like other plants and cope with temperatures which above normal with the formation of special proteins called heat shock proteins (HSPs). These proteins are also found in humans, other animals and have the same function in all living organisms. They ensure that even at high temperatures, the proteins in the cells continue to function and are not damaged since this could adversely affect their integrity. The HSPs have formed automatically when temperatures increase and help in stabilizing proteins so that cells continue to function. They also help to slow down the metabolic reactions whose rate would otherwise increase in hot weather, acidifying the cellular tissue and causing imbalances in metabolic products.

Make sure to regularly check in with your trees to see how they’re doing. Sometimes, all they need is just some extra attention to survive these increasingly hotter times.