• Question: What kind of tree never goes brown and red?

    Asked by anon-217982 to Anna on 10 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Anna Gardner

      Anna Gardner answered on 10 Jun 2019: last edited 10 Jun 2019 10:41 am


      Hi there!
      Collectively known as evergreens these are the trees that are always green because they keep their leaves all year round.
      Evergreens can include: Conifers (Christmas tree type trees), Holly bushes, eucalypts (the trees Koalas like) and most rainforest trees.
      Conifers include trees such as pines, spruce and hemlock and mostly live in colder areas.
      Evergreens are really important for providing protection (for animals) against the weather when all the other trees have lost their leaves in the autumn (known as deciduous trees).

      If evergreens keep their leaves all year, this means they are very good at taking in and storing lots of carbon dioxide (via photosynthesis). This means they can ”sequest” carbon. They lock carbon in, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. This is really good because carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are rising (due to burning fossil fuels and deforestation). Rising CO2 can lead to increased global temperatures that is largely a bad effect for many ecosystems and wildlife.

Comments