How do Trees Survive Winter?

Humans can go inside or put on clothes, but trees spend winter naked in the cold. Why don't they all die?

CREDITS
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Created by Henry Reich
Animation: Ever Salazar
Production and Writing Team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert
Music: Nathaniel Schroeder
And thanks to Subbable supporter Raed Massoud for helping make MinuteEarth possible!

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC

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REFERENCES
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Cavender-Bares, J. (2005). Impacts of freezing on long distance transport in woody plants. Vascular transport in plants, 401-424.

Davis, S. D., Sperry, J. S., & Hacke, U. G. (1999). The relationship between xylem conduit diameter and cavitation caused by freezing. American Journal of Botany, 86(10), 1367-1372.

Ewers, F. W. (1985). Xylem structure and water conduction in conifer trees, dicot trees, and lianas. International Association of Wood Anatomists Bulletin,6(4).

Pittermann, J., & Sperry, J. S. (2006). Analysis of freeze-thaw embolism in conifers. The interaction between cavitation pressure and tracheid size. Plant Physiology, 140(1), 374-382.

Willson, C. J., & Jackson, R. B. (2006). Xylem cavitation caused by drought and freezing stress in four co‐occurring Juniperus species. Physiologia Plantarum, 127(3), 374-382.

Zanne, A. E., Tank, D. C., Cornwell, W. K., Eastman, J. M., Smith, S. A., FitzJohn, R. G., ... & Beaulieu, J. M. (2013). Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments. Nature.

[randomgirlxrulz]

<eating pancakes>
"Hey, could you pass the antifreeze?"

[ShadowSaberBaroxio]

So to make my salad last longer in the fridge, I just have to inject it with maple syrup? I can't wait to go on a diet!

[MagicTurtle]

Just shared this on facebook with the caption "We put antifreeze on our pancakes." :P

[calebanderson]

Becuase I know it took forever to draw this I want to say awesome job!

[CaptainAlliance]

Break out the maple syrup, looks like its gonna be a cold winter for your cars.

[CaptainAlliance]

So... we can consume antifreeze, and not die? GONNA GO DO THAT RIGHT NOW.

[Animalcrossing]

I think that regular trees would also have trouble with snowfall. As the snow piled up on them, it would start to crush them and would break branches. However, pine trees minimize their surface area and this do not get as heavily weighed down. The pines then survive, and the regular trees die off.

[Yui]

I must learn more about everything until there is nothing left to learn! MinuteEarth, you're the best teacher I've seen in all my years. You must cover everything!

[meryemseni]

This channel is a happiness source for me <3

[BlueMerc]

All my fav Youtuber's are apparently Canadians !

[MomoCinematics]

What beautiful video, thanks for explaining things so well Henry :)

(And thanks to all the people behind MinuteEarth and MinutePhysics too, awesome guys are awesome!)

[ZioStalin]

Regarding the hot climate plants that had to evolve a solution for emboly (around 1:17) I think it's not that the lymph flowing through the xylema "sucks air from the surrounding tissues", I think it has to do with cavitation and the loss of pressure in the capillars that produce these little bubbles.

[ShiroKage]

So maple syrup is not tree blood but rather tree antifreeze? Interesting.

[nerdfighteremma]

Trees are AMAZING! This is really cool and I never really got around to understanding it (or wanting to, or realizing that I didn't) until now!

[sycois]

Love your videos!
Could you please do a video on the reason plants shed their leaves in winter?
Like, is it because of the lower temperature? OR is it because of the reducing duration of daylight? OR is it an internal programming that is independent of the weather and season?
Also, what would happen if I take a fully grown maple tree that normally sheds it's leaves in the winter and transplant it to the tropics where there is plenty of warmth, moisture and daylight? Would it still shed it's leaves in the winter?
Thanks!!

[atkhan]

Henry deserves a Grammy for this ... Best Educational Videos.

[SandwitchReaper]

Jus' wanted to say I really, really love the detail in this one's art.

[WobblesandBean]

There's a sapsucker that lives near my house. Most people find it annoying but I adore it, I love watching him make those tiny, precise holes and licking up the pine sap! The hummingbirds that winter here (yeah, I dunno why either) will go after the same holes while they're still open <3

[ShamsulA]

So I'm drinking antifreeze? Oh ok.

[JayWhyThree]

This episode was really well done, great job MinuteEarth!