30 trees over 2,000 years old were identified – How old is the oldest

Chinese scientists have announced that they have been detected on our planet 30 trees over two millennia old each, almost all -the 27- at high altitudes and away from the eyes (and saws) of peopleusually on rocky slopes high, cold and dry mountains. In contrast, taller trees are located in places more accessible to humans.

The oldest known trees are two species of pine (Pinus longaeva) aged 4,900 and 4,850 years, respectively, which are located in the southwestern United States at an altitude of 3,277 meters one and 2,950 second.

Here is one cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides) aged 3,622 years on the western slopes of the Andes of Chile at an altitude of 890 meters and a giant sequoia aged 3,266 years in the Sierra Nevada.

The researchers, led by Dr. Giagia Liu of the Biodiversity Science Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai, who published the paper in the journal Conservation Biology, according to Nature, analyzed data for almost 200,000 trees and pointed out that the known trees that have “grown” them are only 620. Most of the trees that are over 1,000 years old are bare seeds, ie plants such as conifers that produce pine cones and seeds instead of flowers.

The study estimates that of the known trees over 500 years old, which are 8,072, about 70%, or seven out of ten, are threatened by human overexploitation of natural resources, as well as rising temperatures due to climate change. That’s why researchers emphasize the need to protect deciduous trees with new policies.

Link to the scientific publication: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13907

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