(9 Jan 2019) LEADIN:
Scientists are testing a new device called the TreeTalker to detect signs of disease and to assess the health of forests.
They say collecting data on tree health is a good way to monitor signs of climate change.
STORYLINE:
Trees act like Earth's thermometers, their health is a good indicator of the planet's wellbeing, according to scientists.
Here in Piegaro Wood near Città della Pieve, in the Italian province of Perugia, scientists are testing 36 devices which they believe will monitor all the vital signs of the trees.
They belong to an organisation called the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), an international NGO.
The devices they're using can be spotted attached to tree trunks around the forest.
They're called TreeTalkers and they collect information about how water is transported inside the plant, the diameter growth of the trunk and the quality of foliage.
PEFC's Antonio Brunori explains the devices can help them understand how forests may be changing in response to climate change.
"TreeTalker is a detector, or better a series of detectors, which transforms eco-physiological signals - such as growth, absorption of carbon dioxide, liquid flow from roots to leaves - into scientific information. This means that a plant can tell us how it reacts to climate. If we know what the climate is like now and we see how the climate changes, we can see how the plant reacts," says Brunori.
This 146-hectare wood belongs to the Margaritelli family which supports the use of this wood to promote scientific understanding.
The TreeTalkers were installed in the wood in October 2018 for an experiment called Trace.
The study will last one year and if the devices are deemed to be a success the PEFC will deploy the Tree Talkers in 49 other countries.
They're being used to create a method to objectively ensure that any wood produced comes from certifiably sustainable forests.
Brunori says: "All this information has to be interpreted because it is eco-physiological information. It has to be interpreted and converted into numbers and into changes compared to normal conditions. This will allow us to understand how the plant reacts to sudden changes in temperature, extreme drought, excessive winds."
Riccardo Valentini is Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of Tuscia and member of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change.
He invented the device in 2016 with the aim of deploying the devices to carry out a range of different tasks.
"The TreeTalker can be used in many applications and for example it can be used in Forestry to manage better forest (he means: to manage forest better), for sustainable wood production and to have continuous information and data on tree growth, tree performances, or even to understand better (he means: to better understand) the possibility of diseases to impact on trees, we can measure directly when a tree is suffering from particular pathogens attack and so forth. But it also can be used in cities for tree stability, because we measure also the oscillation of trees and the change of stability, and now tree felling is one of the major concerns for urban security," says Valentini.
Data is collected on the tree boxes which are powered by solar panels. It's then transmitted to the researchers enabling them to study the wellbeing of the tree and whether there's any impact from climate change.
Valentini is developing software so the information about the health of the trees will be accessible to schools and the general public as well as scientists.
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