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The ancient baobab of Africa, with its distinctive swollen trunk and known as the "tree of life," is under a new and mysterious threat, with some of the larger and more older dying suddenly in recent years. According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Plants, the oldest baobabs, aged between 1,000 and 2,500 years old, have been dead for a dozen or so years.
The sudden collapse is "an event of unprecedented magnitude". 19659002] Climate change, with increasing temperatures and increasing drought conditions, is a suspect factor but no definite cause is known.
Deaths occurred in the southern African countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. "Falling trees are found at the southern end of the baobab distribution," said Stephan Woodborne, of the National Research Foundation of South Africa, an author of the study.
"What we believe is happening is that the climate envelope in which they exist is changing, and so we are not talking about the massive extinction of baobabs." 19659002] Researchers see very few juvenile trees in the affected area as mature trees die. what we are probably looking at here is a change in their distribution in response to climate forcing, "said Woodborne.
Baobabs studies the hot and dry savannah areas of southern Africa and is often found in areas of elephants, rhinos and other wild animals
Elephants help spread trees when they eat baobab fruit, with seeds often growing in nutritious elephant dung
"Baobabs are obviously emblematic because of their size and shape." Mr. Woodborne said, "We find There are many archaeological sites under these trees, and when we have trees that are older than 1,000 years ago, we are talking about occupations that took place several hundred years ago. "
Baobabs store large amounts of water in their trunks and branches, giving the trees their bulbous shape
140,000 liters (37,000 gallons) of water are sucked up during the rainy season.
Thirsty elephants often strip a baobab tree of its bark and wood for moisture.
Trees are often revered by local communities. People also use baobab fruit to make drinks and mix them with milk for yogurt-like food, or just shelter in the shade of trees for a day in the summer. stifling.
"It was not long ago, there were no shops, so we used these baobab seeds and water to make our yogurt," said Anna Munzhelele , from the Pafuri area near the Limpopo River in South Africa. strong … it's like a type of medicine, we derive energy from it. "
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