The world’s tallest tropical trees have no trouble pumping water to their topmost branches, new research reveals . Conventional scientific theory suggests that as trees grow, it becomes harder to transport water from roots to leaves – limiting growth and making trees more vulnerable to drought. But the new study – led by the University of Exeter and Cardiff University and published in the journal  Science  – finds that adjustments to water transport inside giant Dipterocarp trees “fully compensated” for the challenges of drawing water to the top. As a result, the height of these trees does not make their water systems more vulnerable to drought compared to shorter trees, and separate testing found they suffered no height-related loss in growth (compared to smaller trees) during a severe drought.   “Trees contain lots of thin, hollow vessels and they suck water upwards by creating low pressure at the top,” said Professor Lucy Rowland, from the University of Exeter.…