Biosphere 2 was a sorta crazy science experiment in the Arizona desert where the shut up some scientists in a big dome with a bunch of ecosystems to see how well they could do....the experiment wasn't a smashing success -- and in fact one of the things that happened was that the trees were weak and fell over....turns out that in spite of all the planning and engineering, they forgot one thing....wind.
From How-to-Geek:
Out in the real world, good old Biosphere 1, trees are exposed to wind from the time they are saplings. The wind pushes against the trunk and branches of the tree causing the tree to sway in the wind and the branches to move about. This movement actually changes the tree and creates what is known as “stress (reaction) wood.” The stress wood strengthens the tree by changing the ratios of cellulose, lignin, and normal wood such that the tree can grow properly and stand strongly against the constant pull of gravity.
The trees grown in Biosphere 2, in the absence of the nearly constant and variable action of the wind upon their trunks and branches, failed to grow the stress wood that would help them strand strong. Without the stress of the wind during their development, they couldn’t support their mature mass. Biosphere 2 might not have been a particularly successful experiment, but at least we can take that bit of wisdom away from it all: the stresses endured in youth provide the strength to hold yourself up as an adult.
Trees are amazing -- but to survive and thrive, they need to endure stress. Without the stresses of the wind, they cannot stand.
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