STRESSED TREES DAMAGE ATMOSPHERE SAY AMERICAN SCIENTISTS
September 1st, 2008
BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN scientists have discovered stress is not just a human disease: trees suffer from it too - and when they do, they pollute the atmosphere.
Researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, USA, have found plants in a forest respond to stress caused by disease, drought and unseasonal temperatures by producing significant amounts of an aspirin - methyl salicylate.
This is toxic to humans in its pure form and the scientists found high levels of methyl salicylate in a forest suffering tree health problems.
But for ...
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