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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Why Borneo’s trees are the loftiest on Earth

Scientists find that strong winds constrain tropical forest height, but island’s gentle breezes allow trees to stretch tall.
A tall tree seen from the bottom of its trunk, looking up into the canopy. A person climbs the tree on ropes.

A researcher scales the 100.8-metre tree named Menara in northern Borneo. The rarity of strong winds in the region has helped its rainforest to reach great heights. Credit: A. Shenkin et al./Front. For. Glob. Change (CC BY 4.0)

Relatively gentle winds on Borneo could explain why the island hosts the world’s tallest tropical forest — including the tallest known tree in the tropics, the 100-metre giant named Menara.

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Nature 586, 477 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02911-3

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