Question

Explain why removing a strip of bark completely around a tree stem causes the tree to die.

Answer 1

Answer:

The reason for damage due to girdling is that the phloem layer of tissue just below the bark is responsible for carrying food produced in the leaves by photosynthesis to the roots.

Answer 2

Removing a strip of bark completely around a tree stem causes the tree to die because:

• As the bark is removed completely, the phloem lying underneath will die too.
• As we know, phloem is involved in the transportation of nutrients from leaves to roots. In the absence of phloem, this process will be affected and hence, roots will not be able to receive the nutrients causing their death.
• When roots die, the leaves will not be able to receive the nutrients from the roots, hence they will also die.

The process of removing the tree bark completely, as talked in here, is called ring-barking or girdling.