About 4 percent of the 632 “superlative” trees — those taller than 65m — recorded in Taiwan over the past decade have vanished, a research team devoted to documenting the country’s tallest trees said on Saturday.
The team, which launched a map of “Taiwanese superlative trees” last year, said the trees have grown 30cm taller per year on average during the period, but that 21 trees have disappeared in what the team has described as an “ecological catastrophe.”
With only 2.1 percent of climate zones considered conducive for the existence of tall trees, their preservation has been made more challenging by the effects of climate change and logging, experts said.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University
Taiwan has been an ideal habitat for the growth of such tees, partly thanks to the relative difficulty of reaching their locations in the island’s interior mountains, but the decrease has raised a red flag, they said.
The team, led by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) geomatics professor Wang Chi-kuei (王驥魁), alongside Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) assistant researcher Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), said the tallest known tree in Taiwan is an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree.
Located near the upper course of the Daan River in north-central Taiwan, the tree is also the tallest in East Asia, TFRI said.
The team is hoping that the map (http://www.no1tree.tw), created through high-tech such as airborne light detection, could help develop better knowledge of trees in the country taller than 65m.
There are about 950 million trees in Taiwan, Wang said, adding that the team has been keeping track of a total of 941 superlative trees discovered since 2011, many of which are in the country’s Central Mountain Range (中央山脈), Hsuehshan (雪山) and Alishan (阿里山) mountain ranges.
EXPANDING OPTIONS: The government is to start a shuttle service connecting the Port of Suao to the Port of Hualien, while airlines are to add more flights to the region A magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck off Hualien County yesterday morning has left railway and highway services in eastern Taiwan paralyzed, and it would take considerable time to restore them, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said. Most railway and road traffic in the region has come to a standstill, and repairing the damage could be challenging due to ongoing aftershocks, Wang told reporters on the sidelines of a legislative hearing. Some steps have already been taken to help people travel up and down the east coast, which is dominated by mountains and is essentially connected to northern Taiwan by
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) yesterday apologized to the public on behalf of his son, who is being investigated for allegedly soliciting prostitutes, but pledged to stay in his post after the president declined to approve his resignation over the matter last week. “I am sorry that my son’s behavior has caused problems for everyone involved,” Chiu told reporters at the legislature in Taipei. Chiu said his apology is particularly for the National Security Bureau where his son works, due to the time and money the bureau is spending in investigating the allegations. He had talked with his son, told him
MAJOR MOVEMENT: The earthquake measured 6+ in Hualien County, the highest rating since the 7-tier scale was introduced in 2020, the CWA said People should prepare for a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake striking near the east coast after the nation was yesterday morning jolted by a magnitude 7.2 quake, a seismologist said. Yesterday’s temblor, with the epicenter off Hualien County, was the largest since the nation was devastated by a magnitude 7.3 quake on Sept. 21, 1999, also known as the 921 Earthquake. So far, yesterday’s earthquake and more than 100 aftershocks had led to multiple deaths and injuries, as well as housing and infrastructure damage. Hualien County reported the severest destruction due to its proximity to the epicenter. Ma Kuo-fong (馬國鳳), a research fellow
A total of 12 receipts issued in January and February had the serial number 16620962, making recipients eligible for the NT$10 million (US $318,461) special prize in Taiwan’s receipt lottery, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday. One of the winners spent only NT $30 purchasing an app on Google Play, adding that seven winning receipts were issued for purchases under NT$100, the ministry said Meanwhile, the MOF revealed that 14 receipts issued with the number 50008017 won the receipt lottery’s NT$2 million grand prize. The MOF released the winning receipt lottery numbers on March 25. Alongside the two most coveted prizes,