Why Are There No Holes Around Trees?

Photosynthesis and root mining

Trees grow by 'eating' air. They process vast amounts of CO2 through leaves for photosynthesis, using only a fraction of the water pulled up by their roots. Their roots mine rocks and form symbiotic relationships with fungi for nutrients.

• 🌳 Trees are the largest living things, with the most massive weighing almost 2,000 tons.
• 💨 To gain one ton of carbon, a tree must process 6,000 tons (5 million cubic meters) of air.
• 💧 About 95% of the water pulled up by roots is released through leaves via transpiration to cool the tree and surrounding air.
• 🪨 Roots can break rocks using hydraulic pressure and dissolve them with acids to extract minerals.
• 🍄 Fungi form vast underground networks, trading nutrients and water with trees for sugars produced by their leaves.

A cutaway view shows a large tree with its roots extending into the soil, and a person standing nearby looking at a depression around the tree's base with a question mark and arrow.