Ecologists have used unconventional methods to determine the age of the Patagonian cypress.
Although debate over the world’s oldest tree has flared from time to time — some are sworn by the American mammoth and others by the Swedish spruce, which was plundered nearly 10,000 years ago — we can now welcome a new claimant to the throne in the team, he writes Sciences.
Methuselah destroyed
In the abyss of Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park, about four meters high stretches a Patagonian cypress (Alerce Milenario). Much of the trunk was destroyed, part of the crown fell off, and the tree grew with moss, trees and even other trees.
Chilean ecologist Jonathan Barishewicz, who works at the Laboratory of Environmental and Climate Sciences in Paris, estimates that the tree is 5,484 years old. If Barichivich’s unique procedure for calculating a tree’s age is correct, Alerce Milenario is far ahead of the 4,853-year-old California pine which is by far the oldest tree in the world.
Researchers usually calculate the age of a tree using the dendochronology method, which focuses on examining the tree’s annual rings. In the case of live wood, the tribeand samples are taken or examined from the roots, possibly using radiocarbon dating.
It is very old, so it requires new technology
However, the Chilean Patagonian cypress is too wide to dig to the center and its roots are too brittle, so Barichivich had to take a different approach.
The goal is to protect the tree, not to put it on the front pages or break records. We can’t dig through the tree just to see if it’s the oldest. The scientific challenge lies in estimating the age without unjustly interfering with the life of the tree.
Barichivich and fellow scientist Antonio Lara in 2020 A partial seed sample was taken from the tree and 2,400 growth rings were counted. Then statistical modeling techniques based on the known growth rates of the identified tree species were used to further extrapolate. Comparing with other Patagonian cypress trees and examining environmental factors, a statistical model was created that calculated the probability of a tree reaching a certain age.
Based on the model, the tree has an 80 percent chance of living to more than 5,000 years, and its estimated age is 5,484 years.
However, there are those who are skeptical about the new procedure. Ed Cook, a climate researcher at Columbia University who specializes in tree science, says:
The only way to truly determine the age of a tree is with tree inspection, and for this, all loops must be present, but at least they must be taken into account.
Baryshevich, who is still preparing to publish his study, says it will be important to determine the age of the tree because it may also help him get the protection he deserves. Visitors to Alerce Costero National Park can walk to the tree, trampling the ground over the roots, which compacts the soil, making it difficult for ancient cypress trees to absorb water and nutrients. the tree grows drier climate Bear, too, many of these stressors have deteriorated Cyprus to the point that Baryshevich estimates that only 28 percent of the tree is still alive.
