the by-product of which is oxygen, vital for the sustenance of the
animal kingdom and for other life-giving processes.Trees and humans — a symbiotic relationship
The life history of a tree is also the life history of water. Trees are
the highest form of plant life, as human beings are of animals.
Humans and trees are marvellously interdependent (see Fig. 14.1).
Trees, through the process of photosynthesis, exhale the oxygen we
need for survival, and in return absorb the carbon dioxide we
exhale. Of their total production of oxygen, 60% is released in day-
light, the balance being used by the tree or plant itself during the
night to produce cool oxidations that help to build the actual
structure of the plant. As with so many of Nature's interdependen-
cies, this is a symbiotic exchange, a cooperative transaction. Were
there no trees and other vegetation there would be no animal,
human or micro-organic life on this planet. Through our mindless
deforestation, we have already reduced the amount of oxygen and
water available to us.
Fig. 14.1 (below). The symbiotic relation-
ship of animal and vegetable kingdoms.^2- THE LIFE AND NATURE OF TREES