⚡🌲⚡ The Tree That Thrives on Thunderbolts ⚡ 🌲 ⚡
This is an interesting new study I came across a few days ago showcasing yet another amazing adaptation mother nature has come up with.
So, there's this tropical tree in the forests of Panama called tonka bean tree. Also known as eboe, choibá, or almendro and scientifically described as Dipteryx oleifera it has evolved in such a way to literally harness lightning strikes for its benefit!
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Yes lighting strikes! The same lightning strikes that kill or greatly damage other trees are actually beneficial for this one.
After a five year long study that involved the use of electric field sensors, cameras, antenna array and other equipment the researchers gathered enough data to prove something they had hypothesized before the study.
These trees not only show minimal damage after being hit by a lighting but they also benefit from them in two ways. First, the lighting kills a good chunk of the parasitic vines that grow on them. But they also kill a fair amount of the neighboring vegetation and hence reducing the competition.
The researchers calculated that living near an almendro increases a given tree’s likelihood of dying during a strike by 48%—so lightning may help eliminate trees that might grow tall enough to compete for an almendro’s sunlight,
And due to being taller and having a bigger canopy then other trees in the area, they tend to attract more lighting strikes then the norm!
the researchers concluded that the average almendro on Barro Colorado Island is many meters taller than other nearby trees and has a broader crown, raising its odds of a lightning strike by 68%.
Really interesting stuff imo, showimg how mother nature is far more resourceful and interconnected than we will know!
Here's a link if you fancy reading more on the study!
Since this is a nature post, here's a new little friend I made today in the forest. I gave him some tomato from my sandwich, which he enjoyed it after I gave him some distance:
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It's interesting to see. I guess the lightning isn't bad if you survive.
Heh
!bbh
Very cool tree that can live over 1,000 years and maybe up to 1,400! Plus they produce coumarin that can be turns into coumadin. Nature's wonders! They probably live that long thanks to all of the lightning strikes!
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Pika PIKA !! !BBH
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A tree with super powers. Anything is possible 😀
!BBH
!GIFU
Yeah, nature is full of surprises!
!bbh
Love the little green fren and amazing tree dat zaps da others!
🌲🤝
here's a new little friend I made today This little guy again, hope he is not planning of climbing over a fence, lol.
This tree is kind of freaky, it doesn't need neighbors, very interest and surprising of such conversion. Thanks for the @brainupdate friend
Lmao
Now that's crazy in a cool way. The tonka bean tree actually benefits from lightning strikes? It's like it's adapted to use them to kill off parasites and competition. Nature's amazing, and I love the photo of your new forest friend!
Yeah, nature is cool in so many ways :D
Lovely friend that you made !!!
😊
Wow, that's prolly the only tree surviving a strike
!PIZZA
Actually the researchers think there are a couple species similar to this one!
!bbh
Why don’t you build a house out of that wood…..🤦🏻
You make friends wherever you go….. this one only cost you tomato….
!pimp
Only with animals 😂
Oops…..
Mi froggie Fren. Got any MOAR tomato? 😂
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amazing how long trees can last and how robust they can be
!pimp
!pimp
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Such an interesting adaptation! I just read that you can eat the seeds. I'm curious if there is some hidden benefit to eating seeds from a tree that has touched lightning.