Interlocking, ultra-high forest, is it possible?

I was trying to create a world that has extensive massive rain-forests unlike anything on earth where the trees interlock with thick branches to allow them to rise much higher into the air (several hundred meters) and provide stable support. This is heavily inspired by a hypothetical alien planet I saw on a National Geographic documentary when I was younger, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2tggyZeAQ

Now they argue here that they got assistance from biologists and ecologists to see if such an ecosystem would be possible, but I wanted to run by here to see if that's something that can really be justified.

The thinking goes that on earth, we have trees going up to around 95 meters, their size is restricted by the simple problems involved in creating something tall enough that can go higher and still stand on its own without collapsing, but also the ability of the tree to transport water up to that height from the ground, which eventually becomes unfeasible with the xylem system.

In the show, the solution is that the trees take advantage of endless, heavy rains and fogs, catching water directly at the very top and funneling it down rather than fighting gravity, while they grow struts and supports that interlock and support them against each other over a huge area, allowing them to rise much higher into the air.

I poked around a bit and it seems that both of these solutions appear a bit on earth, giant sequoias collect some of their water from the top, making use of extensive fog: http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/01/news/adme-redwoods1

Additionally Banyan trees(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan) seem to lock into place against each other with support roots over a wide area, though they don't go nearly as high as I'm proposing.

The Documentary also supposes that this planet has a much denser (3atm at sea level) atmosphere than earth, would this assist in carry water vapor and such?

If somebody better educated in biology and physics could help me out with this, explain where this idea may break down and why it would be much appreciated, thanks!

posted over 9 years ago

Khwarezm‭

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