This Tree Thrives In The Desert

this rare and ancient desert dwelling tree may be the most punk rock plant this side of the tertiary it doesn't give a frig about anything frigid Winters scorching Summers drought water logging salty and alkaline soils and especially not the man this is the desert Poplar hey I'm Tasha the Amazon and you're watching floor logic populist euphratica otherwise known as desert Poplar lives fast and dies young in true Punk Rock Fashion these trees are non-conformist since they're one of the only trees in the world that naturally grow along the river valley in dry unforgiving deserts we spend a lot of time on this channel talking about animals well-being but we want to make sure that we don't forget about our own let's take a moment to talk about mental health if you think you might be feeling depressed stressed anxious or overwhelmed you're not alone today's sponsor betterhelp is here to help you better help offers more than 25 000 licensed therapists who can help you with a wide range of issues to get started you just answer a few questions about your preferences and needs in therapy and better help matches you with the right therapist from their Network you can message your therapist at any time to schedule a live session via phone text video or chat and if your therapist isn't the right fit you can switch to a new therapist at any time with no additional cost with better help you get the same professionalism and quality you expect from in-office therapy but with a therapist that's custom picked for you more scheduling flexibility and a more affordable price get 10 off your first month at betterhelp.com animal logic and join more than 3 million people who've taken charge of their Mental Health [Music] desert Poplar is a deciduous tree that's part of the salukishie family better known as The Willows it shoots up quickly up to 15 meters tall and can reach maximum widths of over 2 meters in the right conditions these trees are true Rebels from root to canopy their trunks are rarely straight bending at odd angles they're frequently more bushy than tree and even their leaves are heteromorphic meaning that they don't conform to a single shape not like those other sellouts I'm looking at you Maple desert Poplar can be found from North Africa and the Middle East all the way to Central Asia and as far as western China this tree also goes by Euphrates Poplar which comes from the Euphrates river that flows through Western Asia the heart of this tree's wide range desert poplars have been popping up along Riverbanks in their home habitats since the tertiary period which ended around two and a half million years ago some scientists estimate that they've actually been around for at least 60 million years the oldest desert popular stands that we know of are in China's taklamakan desert the second largest shifting sand desert in the world within the Tarin Basin this is where you'll find the largest distribution of desert poplars in the world with more than half of their entire population living here even though desert poplars live in the desert they are riparian trees meaning that they grow on the banks of rivers so while you might conjure up images of lush palm trees shimmering in the distance when you think of a Desert Oasis from now on you can also imagine some gnarly popular trees the tarim river which flows through the Tarin Basin is a constantly shifting River often changing length or even occasionally coarse depending on conditions thanks to high winds the desert landscape in Tarin Basin changes more often than my hair not only do the popular forests here boast the highest plant biodiversity of any desert region in the world they're also essential for holding back further desertification stabilizing sand dunes and Riverbanks and minimizing sandstorms after going up against these trees the wind is definitely like let's blow this Poplar stand a desert poplars can think their huge roots for giving the wind a run for its money burrowing six to eight meters underground and spreading out dozens of meters under the surface these roots grip the sand and soil around them even after the tree has withered and died the roots still hold on tight their Roots Place desert poplars squarely in the category of freeatophytes which are plants that have long roots that tap into the freeatic zone or its fringes this is the Zone deep underground that's completely saturated with water they need these extensive roots to be able to soak up as much water as they can in the dry environment allowing them to live long after the rivers on the surface have dried up water plays a huge role in the growth of desert poplars when the supply is abundant these trees grow super quickly when the supply dries up the growth slows down water is also how desert poplars Sprout their next Generations in the terrim Basin their dandelion-like seeds are carried off by the wind and end up in the water during flood season the seeds germinate when they're deposited are on the riverbank the little seedlings will often sprout in line or belts showing exactly the outline of the flood waters to germinate the temperature has to be between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius the soil has to be sopping wet and the water should have very little salt if the conditions are just right these little desert Goldilocks have a germination success rate of 80 percent while not classified as a halophyte plants that can endure extremely salty conditions desert Poplar can grow in soil with two percent salinity and survive in soil that has up to 5 salinity to give you an idea of how salty that really is seawater has a salinity of about 3.5 percent for even more context water that has more salinity than 0.12 percent is considered undrinkable for humans scientists have managed to unravel the entire Genome of the desert Poplar to understand the genes that are responsible for making it such a salt tolerant Sally this work also furthers our understanding of how trees respond to Salt stress I personally respond to self-dress with some tequila and lime the ecosystems these popular forests create are rare and are home to other plants like Russian Olive camel Thorn and salt tree with desert Poplar being the keystone species keystone species Define or even completely support the entire ecosystem without them the system would be changed forever or even collapse unfortunately these unique desert Poplar forests are threatened by farming deforestation and excessive use of river water for irrigation since the 1950s The Forest of the takamakan desert have shrunk by nearly half so it looks like the man really is responsible for the death of these desert loving punk rockers so what should we talk about next let me know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for new episodes every week bye hey I'm Tasha the Amazon and you're watching floral logic you Roberto yep hey that was weird oh I didn't see you there welcome to my jungle I'm Tasha the Amazon in true Punk Rock Fashion these non-conformists these trees are non-conformist mm-hmm desert poplars have been popping up along Riverbanks what desert poplars have been popping up along Riverbanks and their home habitat here you'll find the world's no it's not my fault I'm here we go so while you might conjure up images whoa thanks to high winds thanks thanks guys thanks for blowing at the sillies I got the sillies in me to germinate the temperature has to be between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius the soil Sun the Cecilia the soil has to be sopping wet and there should be very little salt in the water unfortunately these unique desert forests so what should we talk next so I guess the man really has been responsible for the death of the punk rockers laughs unfortunately these unique desert forests since the 1950s the deserts of the God damn it I did it I did it

Channel: Animalogic

Views: 260,169

Keywords: animals, animal, logic, education, animalogic, crazy, ugly, weird, gross, beautiful, interesting, facts, about, information, info, school, research, learn, learning, smart, 4k, nature documentary, nature doc, floralogic, second nature, desert, poplar, desert poplar, desert tree, sand tree, euphrates poplar, This Tree Lives In The Desert, desert dwelling tree, king of the desert, dunes, dune, dune tree, oasis, desert oasis, oasis tree, taklamakan desert, china, taklamakan, shifting sands desert, sand

Id: aK3r3nvj5JE

Length: 8min 5sec (485 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 02 2022