We know surprisingly little about the biology, behavior, and sex of trees, particularly at the individual tree level. While numerous projects focus on forests and ecosystems and how carbon and water flow through them, we have neglected the biology of the individual tree. Forest function is an emergent property of the behavior of many millions of individual trees, and yet we know little about why certain individuals thrive and others struggle, or why sometimes reproduction and regeneration explodes while at other times, it fails. We need an in-depth study of long-term tree biology, through a tree’s entire life cycle, from seedling to mature tree.  

The excellently maintained and resourced living collection of trees at The Morton Arboretum provides a perfect opportunity to set up such a platform. This research team is developing innovative new protocols to comprehensively capture all aspects of a tree’s existence, from its early sapling stages through its growth to maturity until finally its decline and death. Using a wide array of technology to gather and analyze data, the Tree Observatory will be a proving ground for the latest techniques to closely watch tree growth, behavior, and sex through daily, seasonal, and annual cycles.