Bristlecone pine

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Bristlecone pine
Prometheus Wheeler.jpg
A Great Basin bristlecone pine grove
ConeBristles.jpg
The eponymous bristles
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: P. subg. Strobus
Section: P. sect. Parrya
Subsection: P. subsect. Balfourianae
Species

The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus , subsection Balfourianae). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is among the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The oldest of this species is more than 4,800 years old, [1] making it the oldest known individual of any species. Many scientists are curious as to why this tree is able to live so long. In one study, they discovered that Pinus longaeva has higher levels of telomerase activity, which further slows or prevents the attrition rate of telomeres. [2] This potentially contributes to the extended life of the bristlecone pine.

Contents

Despite their potential age and low reproductive rate, bristlecone pines, particularly Pinus longaeva, are usually a first-succession species, tending to occupy new open ground. [3] They generally compete poorly in less-than-harsh environments, making them hard to cultivate. [3] In gardens, they succumb quickly to root rot. [4] They do very well, however, where most other plants cannot even grow, such as in rocky dolomitic soils in areas with virtually no rainfall. [3]

Bristlecone pines grow in scattered subalpine groves at high altitude in arid regions of the Western United States. Bristlecones, along with all related species in class Pinopsida, are cone-bearing seed plants commonly known as conifers; the name comes from the prickles on the female cones. [5]

Species and range

Great Basin bristlecone pines in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains, California Gnarly Bristlecone Pine.jpg
Great Basin bristlecone pines in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains, California

There are three closely related species of bristlecone pines:

At least some of the three species can hybridize in cultivation, but the ranges of wild populations do not overlap. The Colorado River and Green River produce a 160-mile (260 km) gap between the ranges of P. longaeva and P. aristata and the northern Owens Valley provides a 20-mile (30 km) gap between the ranges of P. longaeva and P. balfouriana. [8]

Description

Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves just below the tree line, between 5,600 and 11,200 ft (1,700 and 3,400 m) elevation on dolomitic soils. [5] The trees grow in soils that are shallow lithosols, usually derived from dolomite and sometimes limestone, and occasionally sandstone or quartzite soils. Dolomitic soils are alkaline, high in calcium and magnesium, and low in phosphorus. Those factors tend to exclude other plant species, allowing bristlecones to thrive. [9] Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, the trees grow very slowly. Even the tree's needles, which grow in bunches of five, can remain on the tree for forty years, which gives the tree's terminal branches the unique appearance of a long bottle brush.

The bristlecone pine's root system is mostly composed of highly branched, shallow roots, while a few large, branching roots provide structural support. The bristlecone pine is extremely drought tolerant due to its branched shallow root system, its waxy needles, and thick needle cuticles that aid in water retention. [8]

Gnarled bristlecone pine wood Utah, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, bark.jpg
Gnarled bristlecone pine wood

The wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. The tree's longevity is due in part to the wood's extreme durability. While other species of trees that grow nearby suffer rot, bare bristlecone pines can endure, even after death, often still standing on their roots, for many centuries. Exposed wood on living and dead trees does not rot, but rather erodes like stone due to wind, rain, and freezing, which creates unusual forms and shapes.

The bristlecone pine has an intrinsically low rate of reproduction and regeneration, and it is thought that under present climatic and environmental conditions the rate of regeneration may be insufficient to sustain its population. [10] The species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. [10] The species are labeled under Least Concern (LC), the justification for this being that no subpopulations for Great Basin bristlecone pines are decreasing. Subpopulations seem to be increasing or remaining stable. [10] Many bristlecone pine habitats have been protected, including the Inyo National Forest's Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, [11] [12] where cutting or gathering wood is prohibited. [11]

Needles and cones A543, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA, bristlecone pine cones, 2016.jpg
Needles and cones

The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The needles of the tree surround the branch to an extent of about one foot near the tip of the limb. [13] The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface. [5] [12] The dark color of these cones helps to absorb heat. After maturity, which takes about two years, the cones will become brown in color. [13] These ancient trees have a gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, [8] and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. [14] As the tree ages, much of its vascular cambium layer may die. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches. Even though the trees' needles may age, they still remain functional in regulating water and by their ability to photosynthesize. [8]

Oldest living organisms

This standing tree may have died hundreds of years ago. Scientific matching of dead trees' growth rings with living ones has created a 9,000-year-long record. Bristlecone Wheeler.jpg
This standing tree may have died hundreds of years ago. Scientific matching of dead trees' growth rings with living ones has created a 9,000-year-long record.

Bristlecone pines are known for attaining great ages. The oldest bristlecone pine in the White Mountains is Methuselah, which has a verified age of 4,855 years. It is located in the Inyo National Forest in Eastern California.[ citation needed ] However, the specific location of Methuselah is a closely guarded secret. [15]

The other two species, Pinus balfouriana and Pinus aristata, are also long-lived, though not to the extreme extent of P. longaeva; specimens of both have been measured or estimated to be up to 3,000 years old. [16] The longevity of the trees is believed to be related to the proportion of dead wood to live wood. This high ratio reduces respiration and water loss, thereby extending the life of the tree. [10]

Trees that reproduce by cloning can be considered to be much older than bristlecone pines. A colony of 47,000 quaking aspen trees (nicknamed "Pando"), covering 106 acres (43 ha) in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah, United States, has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although tree ring samples date individual, above-ground trees at an average of about 130 years. [17] [18]

Bristlecone pines are invaluable to dendroclimatologists, because they provide the longest continual climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies on Earth. By cross-dating millennia-old bristlecone pine debris, some chronologies reach beyond 9,000 years before present. [8] In addition, ratios of stable carbon isotopes from bristlecone pine tree rings are sensitive to past variations in moisture availability. This information can be used to reconstruct precipitation changes in the past. [19]

The Rocky Mountain population is severely threatened by an introduced fungal disease known as white pine blister rust, and by mountain pine beetles. [20] Climate change may also affect the species as temperatures increased 0.5–1 °C (0.90–1.80 °F) over a 30-year period throughout the southern Rocky Mountain range. These changes in climate would mostly affect trees in higher elevations. With these problems, the genetic diversity within the species has become a concern; [21] old specimens of bristlecone pine, however, have survived previous warmer periods.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine</span> Genus of plants in the conifer family Pinaceae

A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus Pinus of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas fir</span> Species of tree

The Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Mexican Douglas-fir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conifer</span> Group of cone-bearing seed plants

Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. The division Pinophyta contains seven families, 60 to 65 genera, and more than 600 living species.

<i>Pinus albicaulis</i> Pine tree species found in North America

Pinus albicaulis, known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, Pacific Coast Ranges, and Rocky Mountains. It shares the common name "creeping pine" with several other plants.

<i>Pinus balfouriana</i> Pine tree found in North America

Pinus balfouriana, the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation pine that is endemic to California, United States. It is closely related to the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, in the subsection Balfourianae.

<i>Pinus flexilis</i> Pine tree found in North America

Pinus flexilis, the limber pine, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Rocky Mountain white pine.

<i>Pinus contorta</i> Species of plant

Pinus contorta, with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests. Like all pines, it is an evergreen conifer.

<i>Pinus virginiana</i> Species of conifer

Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack pine</span> Species of tree

Jack pine, also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coulter pine</span> Pine tree found in North America

Coulter pine, or big-cone pine, is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico. Isolated groves are found as far north as Clearlake, California on the flanks of Mt. Konocti and Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. It is named after Thomas Coulter, an Irish botanist and physician. The Coulter pine produces the heaviest cone of any pine tree, up to 5 kg (11 lb) and among conifers is exceeded only by the cones of Araucaria bidwillii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knobcone pine</span> Pine tree found in North America

The knobcone pine, Pinus attenuata, is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils. It ranges from the mountains of southern Oregon to Baja California with the greatest concentration in northern California and the Oregon-California border.

<i>Pinus longaeva</i> Long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the western United States

Pinus longaeva is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada, and Utah. Methuselah is a bristlecone pine that is 4,855 years old and has been credited as the oldest known living non-clonal organism on Earth. To protect it, the exact location of this tree is kept secret. In 1987, the bristlecone pine was designated one of Nevada's state trees.

<i>Pinus aristata</i> Pine tree found in North America

Pinus aristata, the Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree native to the United States. It appears in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and northern New Mexico, with isolated populations in the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon. It is usually found at very high altitudes, from 7,000–13,000 feet (2,100–4,000 m), in cold, dry subalpine climate conditions, often at the tree line, although it also forms extensive closed-canopy stands at somewhat lower elevations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inyo National Forest</span> National forest in California and Nevada, United States

Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States; Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada; and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which protects the oldest living trees in the world. The forest, encompassing much of the Owens Valley, was established by Theodore Roosevelt as a way of sectioning off land to accommodate the Los Angeles Aqueduct project in 1907, making the Inyo National Forest one of the least wooded forests in the U.S. National Forest system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest</span> Protected area in the White Mountains, Inyo County, California

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prometheus (tree)</span> Oldest known non-clonal organism

Prometheus was the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, United States. The tree, which was at least 4,862 years old and possibly more than 5,000, was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and United States Forest Service personnel for research purposes. Those involved did not know of its world-record age before the cutting, and the circumstances and decision-making process remain controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methuselah (pine tree)</span> Bristlecone pine tree in the White Mountains, California

Methuselah is a 4,855-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world. The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who is said to have reached 969 years of age before his death, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Oldlist". Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ Flanary, B. E., & Kletetschka, G. (2006). Analysis of telomere length and telomerase activity in tree species of various lifespans, and with age in the bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva. Rejuvenation Research, 9(1), 61-63.
  3. 1 2 3 Howard, JL (2004). "Pinus longaeva". Fire Effects Information System. USDA. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  4. ↑ EOL
  5. 1 2 3 Bristlecone pine media from ARKive
  6. ↑ Moore, Gerry; Kershner, Bruce; Tufts, Craig; Mathews, Daniel; et al. (2008). National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America. New York: Sterling. p. 83. ISBN   978-1-4027-3875-3.
  7. ↑ Kauffmann, Michael E. (2012). Conifer Country. Kneeland, CA: Backcountry Press. ISBN   978-0-578-09416-8. OCLC   798852130.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Fryer, Janet L (2004). "Pinus longaeva". U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  9. ↑ Coop, JD; Schoettle, AW (2009). "Regeneration of rocky mountain bristlecone pine (pinus aristata) and limber pine (pinus flexilis) three decades after stand-replacing fires". Forest Ecology and Management. 257 (3): 893–903. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.10.034.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Stritch, L.; Mahalovich, M. & Nelson, K.G. (2011). "Pinus longaeva". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2011: e.T34024A9830878. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T34024A9830878.en . Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Global Trees Campaign". March 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  12. 1 2 "The Ancient Bristlecone Pine". August 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Bristlecone pines". U.S. National Park Service.
  14. ↑ "The Gymnosperm Database". March 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  15. ↑ Kinkead, Gwen (June 17, 2003). "At Age 4,600-Plus, Methuselah Pine Tree Begets New Offspring". New York Times.
  16. ↑ Bain, G. Donald (2001). "Explore the Methuselah Grove". NOVA Online: Methuselah Tree. PBS.
  17. ↑ Grant, Michael C. (October 1, 1993). "The Trembling Giant". Discover Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Quaking Aspen". National Park Service – Bryce Canyon . Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  19. ↑ Bale, RJ; Robertson, I; Salzer, MW; Loader, NJ; et al. (2011). "An annually resolved bristlecone pine carbon isotope chronology for the last millennium". Quaternary Research. 76 (1): 22–29. Bibcode:2011QuRes..76...22B. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2011.05.004. S2CID   140565055.
  20. ↑ Robbins, Jim (September 27, 2010). "Old Trees May Soon Meet Their Match". The New York Times.
  21. ↑ Schoettle, AW; Goodrich, BA; Hipkins, V; Richards, C; Kray, J (2012). "Geographic patterns of genetic variation and population structure in pinus aristata, rocky mountain bristlecone pine". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 42 (1): 23–37. doi:10.1139/x11-152.

General sources

  • Bailey, D.K. (1970). "Phytogeography and taxonomy of Pinus subsection Balfourianae". Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 57 (2): 210–249. doi:10.2307/2395110. JSTOR   2395110.
  • Richardson, D.M., ed. (1998). Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-55176-5.
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