3 ms·
This blew my mind. Gives an idea of the timescales we're talking about: "The reason why Old Tjikko now finds itself on the barren rock near Trysil – more than
by bencollier49 4y ago
This blew my mind. Gives an idea of the timescales we're talking about:
"The reason why Old Tjikko now finds itself on the barren rock near Trysil – more than a hundred metres higher than what is considered the tree line – is simply that the spruce tree rose along with the mountain it grows on during the land uplift that followed the ice age."
- q1w2 4y agoThe article conflates two phenomena... 1. The uplift of the land after the glacier melt. 2. The fact that spruces "multiply" by spreading out their roots and can thereby migrate over centuries. The 2nd point sort of dances on the definition of "reproduction" and "individual". Genetically this tree is identical to it's original "cloned parent" from 9500 years ago, but there are also "other?" spruce trees lower down the mountain along the tree line that are it's "siblings?"/"self?" - now detached from one another. That's the thing with nature - it doesn't always follow definitions we place on it. net-net, this isn't quite the same as finding a tree that's individually born and still 10000 years old.
- bcbrown 4y agoFor the bristlecone pines in California and Nevada, a primary cause of death for old trees is that erosion slowly exposes their root system over time until it kills them. So in a sense, they can outlive the mountains they grow upon.