A 160-year-old oak has collapsed in the Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg. Experts call climate change the reason for his death.
The incident happened in the morning of August 8, but it was reported only the day before. The tree was one of the oldest in the Botanical Garden.
“This tree was born in the middle of the 19th century, several decades after the former Apothecary Garden was transformed in 1823 into the Imperial St. Petersburg Botanical Garden and became the center of botanical research throughout the Russian Empire. Those were times of a completely different climate,” – said Gennady Firsov, senior researcher at the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to him, recently, many tree species, primarily old ones, have begun to respond to climate change and warming. And on the island itself, where the Botanical Garden is located, organisms were found, due to which the roots rot and dry out. Almost all the anchor roots of the deceased oak have rotted away.
Experts believe that a heavy wet crown after rain could be an additional reason for the fall. There was no wind in the city that day.
The height of the tree was almost 19 meters, and the diameter was 88 cm. The tree was in good condition and was resistant to diseases, the scientist notes. Until now, including this year, it bore fruit abundantly, gave self-seeding.
In total, about 200 oak trees of various types and shapes grow in the Botanical Garden. The dead oak was the only Quercus robur species that represented the local flora. They are considered the most durable trees in St. Petersburg.
As “DP” wrote at the beginning of summer, due to the abnormal heat this year, the Botanical Garden was forced to close the greenhouses for visitors several times. In June and July, the city broke several temperature records.
