5000years old.. A tree in Chile tells the history of climate change
In a forest in southern Chile, a giant Patagonian cypress tree, on its way to claiming the title of the oldest tree on the planet, contains valuable information that will enrich scientists' knowledge of adapting to climate change .
Dubbed the "great-grandfather", this tree is 28 meters high and four meters in diameter, and is estimated to be about five thousand years old, making it therefore older than the current "Dean of Trees", which is a 4,850-year-old pine tree kept in a secret location in the United States.
Antonio Lara, a researcher at the Southern University in Chile and the Chilean Center for Climate Science and Adaptation, who is part of the team responsible for studying the age of the tree, confirms that the latter is “resistant, as no other tree has succeeded in living to this extent.”
On the edge of its valley, in the Los Rios region 800 kilometers south of Santiago, this tree has survived the fires and over-exploitation of this South American endemic species, whose wood is highly resistant and has been used for centuries in the construction of homes and boats.
Family passion
Even before being included in the Guinness Book of Records, tourists walk for an hour through a forest of younger pines (300 to 400 years old) to take a selfie next to the tree with its thick, sinuous trunk covered with moss and lichens.
Its growing popularity has prompted the National Forest Office to increase the number of forest rangers and limit visits, with advance registration required.
The "great-grandfather" tree was discovered in 1972 by ranger Aníbal Henriquez, who "didn't want people and tourists to know (its location), because he knew it was of great value," explains his daughter Nancy Henriquez, who is also a ranger.
Anibal's grandson, Jonathan Barichevicz, has grown up playing among the Patagonian cypress trees and is now one of the scientists studying the species at the Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences in Paris.
In 2020, as part of his research on climate change, Barišević, along with Antonio Lara, pulled a sample from the tree using the largest hand excavator ever. But they could not reach its center.
This specimen has been officially estimated to be around 2,400 years old, and thanks to a predictive model, "80 percent of the possible paths indicate that the tree is 5,000 years old," says Barišević, who hopes to publish the results of his work soon.
The study aroused enthusiasm among scientists, because studying the age of trees by relying on their trunk rings shows limitations when it is used to measure old samples, as many of them have rotten holes.
"symbols of resilience"
"It's not just about age, there are many other reasons that give this tree value and meaning and justify the need to protect it," Lara explains.
This tree, which bears witness to 5,000 years ago, is a giant "time capsule" that stores information about the past and how these trees were able to adapt to climate change and its environment.
Trees are rarely this old, most of them are less than a thousand years old, and a few of them lived until two to three thousand years.
"It's like an open book," says Carmen Gloria Rodriguez, research associate at the Southern University in Chile.
Trunk rings show particularly dry years (with narrower rings) and rainy years (wider rings), and can give indications of fires and earthquakes.
"They are symbols of resilience and adaptation," says Barišević. "If these trees disappear, an important key to how life adapts to changes in the planet disappears with them."
Source: websites