Trees

Overview

Trees are one of the important renewable resources found in ARK: Survival Evolved. They are the primary source of  Wood and  Thatch.

Harvesting

Survivors can harvest trees using their bare hands and have an innate affinity for Thatch (meaning they gather more Thatch than Wood), but suffer from recoil damage doing so. Recoil damage is avoided by using one of the many weapons or tools, and almost all weapons and tools can be used to harvest trees with the notable exception of the  Sickle. The  Pick yields the most thatch, while the  Hatchet yields the most wood. The  Chainsaw provides a gather modifier for Wood, making it vastly superior (in terms of quantity-per-tree) to other Wood gathering methods.

In addition to tools, almost all creatures can damage trees - either by attacking them, sprinting into them or, in some cases, merely walking nearby. However, only a few creatures can harvest resources from trees. Among those that can, they are split between those with affinity for Thatch, and those with affinity for Wood; similar to the Pick and Hatchet, to which they are sometimes compared.

For information on the mechanics of harvesting, please see Renewable resources. Note that as the Industrial Grinder can turn 1 Wood into 5 Thatch, the best gathering technique for Thatch once you have reached this technology level, is usually to use a Wood affinity gatherer and grind it up.

Types

• Generic Trees
• This covers all trees not mentioned below. These trees can be harvested for  Wood and  Thatch. The total yield of generic trees doesn't vary much, regardless of apparent size.

• Swamp Trees
  • Trees found within the Swamp also yield  Rare Mushrooms, with the yield related to the wood harvesting. For example, axes,  Castoroides,  Mammoth and Power-trained  Therizinosaur.
  • Interestingly, the ratio of thatch to wood that the  Castoroides gathers is reversed when harvesting from Mangrove Trees - gathering hundreds of thatch and minor quantities of wood, rather than its usual affinity from other trees.

• Young Redwood Trees
  • Young Redwood trees have substantially more resources, but are not found in dense quantities, offsetting any advantage.

• Burnt Tree
  • Burnt Trees found on Lava Biome additionally yield small amounts of  Charcoal. The type of tool or animal makes no difference to this yield.

• Joshua Tree
  • Joshua Trees additionally yield tiny amounts of  Sap, with the Chainsaw being the most efficient tool to gather it.

• Lamp Posts
  • Lamp Posts yield  Crystal,  Element Dust,  Electronics and  Scrap Metal.
  • Unlike other trees, it is primarily carnivores that can harvest from Lamp Posts: not herbivores.

Notes

• As with all resources, Trees will respawn after a period of time so long as no players or structures are nearby. Within that radius, players can use  Re-Fertilizer.
• A player can use the  Grappling Hook and attach their character to the tree. This can help with escaping or planning an ambush.