<http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070805/sc_livescience/dmosher@imagino
va.com> Dave Mosher
LiveScience Staff Writer
 
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ptreessoar/23964632/SIG=10sog4vj6/*http:/www.livescience.com>
LiveScience.com

Majestic trees owe a sizeable chunk of their sky-high stature to tiny birds.

Birds boost tree height up to 33 percent by munching on
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/birds
helptreessoar/23964632/SIG=11tivjj9h/*http:/www.livescience.com/animals/top1
0_Biggest_Pests.html> pesky parasites that can literally suck the life out
of the tall-growing plants, a new study shows. 

"In a nutshell . the presence of these birds in pine forests increased the
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/birds
helptreessoar/23964632/SIG=11umu2ldu/*http:/www.livescience.com/environment/
050314_acid_rain.html> growth of the trees by helping to rid them of
damaging insects," said Kailen Mooney, an evolutionary biologist at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. 

Birds remove harmful species of beetles, caterpillars, ants and aphids from
branches, Mooney explained, increasing the vigor of trees. His findings are
detailed in the August issue of the journal Ecology. 

The avian activity also changes the chemical "flavor" of the trees by
boosting terpenes-chemicals found to repel tree-eating pests such as
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/birds
helptreessoar/23964632/SIG=1253gp8ef/*http:/www.livescience.com/environment/
070502_ap_beetle_spread.html> bark beetles as well as porcupines and
squirrels. 

"More than anything, this study underscores the importance of preserving the
ecological communities in the forest and not just the trees," Mooney said.

Here's the abstract:
http://www.esajournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document
<http://www.esajournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1890%2F06-
1095.1> &doi=10.1890%2F06-1095.1