How is this field maple still alive?

[spandit]

Bark almost completely stripped yet there are new buds ready for the spring on all the twigs, which are still green when I snap them. I thought ring barking a tree was enough to kill it (although how cork oaks survive I don't know either)?

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, spandit said:

Bark almost completely stripped yet there are new buds ready for the spring on all the twigs, which are still green when I snap them. I thought ring barking a tree was enough to kill it (although how cork oaks survive I don't know either)?

Bark cambium/phloem feeds the root, the sapwood supplies water to the foliage so when it is rigng barked it is the root that dies

[spandit]

1 minute ago, openspaceman said:

Bark cambium/phloem feeds the root, the sapwood supplies water to the foliage so when it is rigng barked it is the root that dies

So it will die anyway? Loads have been attacked in a similar fashion

[openspaceman]

It may shoot from below the ring barked bit and in a plantation root grafts can keep the tree alive until wound wood bridge the gap. I have not done it but  people ave grafted bark from above to bridge the gap.

[Dan Maynard]

I've seen some fairly young limes which were stripped by hungry cattle, after a couple of years the top seemed to be still growing. I could only think there was still water going up the sapwood so the top still growing, and roots had enough food either stored, or from adjacent trees to survive for a while.

 

We were there to fell them anyway so the experiment ended before they died. Did a ring barked HC couple of months ago, stone dead but had taken a couple of years to die.

[openspaceman]

On 05/11/2024 at 12:24, openspaceman said:

Bark cambium/phloem feeds the root, the sapwood supplies water to the foliage so when it is rigng barked it is the root that dies

@Dan Maynard  as an illustration of my point have a look at this photo I took today on a site where volunteers had done some control of laurel invading a woodland. 

 

The ring barking was done two years ago and you can see the tree has carried on increasing girth above the cuts but interestingly the tree above the cut is attempting to put down rootlets.

 

There were no likely root grafts.

 

Edited November 21 by openspaceman