While researching the tree, I learned that the bark absorbs methane. Methane is a colorless, odorless gas with a regular tetrahedral molecular structure, and is a hydrocarbon that is the main component of natural gas. Methane in the air absorbs heat from sunlight and releases it to the earth’s surface, creating a greenhouse effect that warms the surface; without the greenhouse effect, the surface temperature would drop to minus 19 degrees Celsius. Methane is also important in the carbon cycle of the ecosystem, but it seems better to absorb any excess.
It was thought that only soil absorbs methane, but bark also absorbs methane. There are microorganisms in soil called methane oxidizers that use methane as an energy source, and it seems that similar bacteria are present in bark. It seems that the amount absorbed may be greater than that of soil, and if you calculate the surface area of all the bark on Earth, it would be about the same as the land area of the Earth. Indeed, some bark surfaces have a complex fractal structure, which is similar to how the surface area of the human small intestine is the size of a tennis court.
https://www.businessinsider.jp/article/291092
Some of the bark is cracked and peeling, and it seems that it becomes a habitat for small animals and insects to hibernate during the winter. In addition, lichens, a composite organism of fungi and algae that lives on the bark, seems to survive by photosynthesis, while the fungi protect the algae, and it seems that they also fix nitrogen. It seems that bark and soil play quite similar roles, such as absorbing methane and fixing nitrogen.
Additionally, bark also seems to affect rainwater. Rain that falls in forests can be divided into off-forest rain, which falls directly to the ground, and through-forest rain, which passes through the tops of the trees and drips into the forest. The part of through-forest rain that runs down the trunks is called stemflow. Stemflow contains components such as sap, and the stemflow of conifers is more acidic, while the stemflow of broadleaf trees is more neutral. Bark determines the pH of the rainwater that reaches the soil.
Also, like the intestines, it seems that rainwater can be absorbed from inside the bark, and if the bark structure is complicated, the effect of trunk flow on rainwater is stronger and the amount of rainwater absorbed is also larger. Bark is amazing.
https://oirase-fm.com/notes/naturalist/
Some bark is said to be rich in polyphenols and flavonoids, which are said to have antioxidant properties. Some sick monkeys may be able to obtain pharmacological effects such as expelling parasites, sterilizing, and relieving pain by eating certain types of bark. Bark may be used as medicine by various creatures.
https://www.nikkei-science.com/?p=48829
I looked into bark and found that it plays many roles, including methane absorption, large surface area, nitrogen fixation, stem flow, and medicinal properties. Bark has an amazing role. The Earth’s ecosystem is amazing.
