Wind can be a significant factor in what grows. On the western plains of Pine Ridge Lakota reservation, wind is so strong that it is difficult to grow fruit trees except in sheltered locations. Wind breaks are vital in the prairies.
The canyons, on the other hand, offer protection from the wind, allowing trees to grow that offer further protection, thus a good place to start food production where we had access. Even in the lee of a building, trees are able to establish and grow faster than in the open. In a hot, humid climate, lack of wind could inhibit growth of some plants that spread seed by wind, or are more vulnerable to fungus. You’ll find those plants at the edges of jungles, not inside of them.
You can tell the story of wind by looking at the older trees and how they may have been shaped by it. Regular, strong winds can strip one side of a tree to some degree, or cause it to twist and squat as it grows.
Antarctic winds, Slope Point, New Zealand. Image credits: anita363
The amount of wind effect on trees, called “flagging,” can tell you speed and usual direction of wind.