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Bristlecone pine

January 01, 1970

For other uses, see Bristlecone (disambiguation).

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.

Bristlecone pine
A Great Basin bristlecone pine grove
The eponymous bristles
Scientific classification
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

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 edit

 
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 edit

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

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

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 edit

 
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 edit

References edit

Citations edit

  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. ^ a b c Howard, JL (2004). "Pinus longaeva". Fire Effects Information System. USDA. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  4. ^ EOL
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b "Global Trees Campaign". March 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  12. ^ a b "The Ancient Bristlecone Pine". August 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  13. ^ a b "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 edit

  • 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.

External links edit

  • media from ARKive
  • Gymnosperm Database – Pinus longaeva, Pinus aristata, Pinus balfouriana
  • Prometheus: The Martyred One

January 01, 1970
bristlecone, pine, other, uses, bristlecone, disambiguation, term, bristlecone, pine, covers, three, species, pine, tree, family, pinaceae, genus, pinus, subsection, balfourianae, three, species, long, lived, highly, resilient, harsh, weather, soils, three, sp. For other uses see Bristlecone disambiguation 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 Bristlecone pine A Great Basin bristlecone pine grove The eponymous bristles Scientific classification 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 Pinus aristata Pinus longaeva Pinus balfouriana 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 Contents 1 Species and range 2 Description 3 Oldest living organisms 4 See also 5 References 5 1 Citations 5 2 General sources 6 External linksSpecies and range edit nbsp Great Basin bristlecone pines in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains California There are three closely related species of bristlecone pines Great Basin bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva in Utah Nevada and eastern California The famous longest lived species often the term bristlecone pine refers to this tree in particular Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine Pinus aristata in Colorado New Mexico and Arizona The most populous species capable of forming closed canopies and unlike the other two is commonly cultivated citation needed Foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana with two disjunct populations found in the Klamath Mountains subspecies balfouriana and the southern Sierra Nevada 6 subspecies austrina A small outlying population was reported in southern Oregon but was proven to have been misidentified 7 Forms the thickest groves of the three 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 editBristlecone 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 nbsp 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 nbsp 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 edit nbsp 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 editList of longest living organismsReferences editCitations edit Oldlist Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research Retrieved January 8 2013 Flanary B E amp 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 a b c Howard JL 2004 Pinus longaeva Fire Effects Information System USDA Retrieved December 2 2008 EOL a b c Bristlecone pine media from ARKive 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 Kauffmann Michael E 2012 Conifer Country Kneeland CA Backcountry Press ISBN 978 0 578 09416 8 OCLC 798852130 a b c d e Fryer Janet L 2004 Pinus longaeva U S Department of Agriculture Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory 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 a b c d Stritch L Mahalovich M amp 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 a b Global Trees Campaign March 2008 Retrieved July 30 2011 a b The Ancient Bristlecone Pine August 2003 Retrieved July 30 2011 a b Bristlecone pines U S National Park Service The Gymnosperm Database March 2008 Retrieved July 30 2011 Kinkead Gwen June 17 2003 At Age 4 600 Plus Methuselah Pine Tree Begets New Offspring New York Times Bain G Donald 2001 Explore the Methuselah Grove NOVA Online Methuselah Tree PBS Grant Michael C October 1 1993 The Trembling Giant Discover Magazine Retrieved May 8 2008 Quaking Aspen National Park Service Bryce Canyon Retrieved May 7 2008 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 Robbins Jim September 27 2010 Old Trees May Soon Meet Their Match The New York Times 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 edit 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 External links editBristlecone pine at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Taxa from Wikispecies Pinus longaeva media from ARKive Gymnosperm Database Pinus longaeva Pinus aristata Pinus balfouriana Prometheus The Martyred One Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bristlecone pine amp oldid 1211706798, wikipedia, wiki, 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