Biology Teachers, please help?

Question

the question asks: It is important not to pile soil or compost around the base of a tree, because it might kill the tree. Explain why this is so.

It needs to do with"gaseous exchange and transport systems which transfer chemicals through the internal and between the external environments of plants".

Answer 1

From my interactions with agriculturists, they say that compost should not be placed around the base because:

1. decomposing matter attracts micro organisms, some which may cause infection to susceptible species

2. methane released by decomposing matter negatively affects the stroma of some trees decreasing transpiration.

I hope this helped a bit.