Comments on: The vanishing groves

The vanishing groves

homunculus — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:45:33 -0800

The vanishing groves: A chronicle of climates past and a portent of climates to come – the telling rings of the bristlecone pine.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:52:45 -0800

In other botanical news: Ancient flower lives only on two Spanish cliffs, and uses ants to survive

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:43:30 -0800

The bristlecone article is nicely written and compelling. Thanks!

By: wilful

wilful — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:16:46 -0800

nice article, thanks.

By: InsertNiftyNameHere

InsertNiftyNameHere — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:56:59 -0800

Outstanding read. Thanks.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:28:45 -0800

I visited the bristlecones a few years ago on a plant science trip, and this article and the photos brought back what it felt like to be among those trees. They are so unfathomably ancient it's hard to imagine that in a few generations they may all be dead.

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 00:54:59 -0800

It seemed a very long article to say "there is evidence that climate change is making mountaintops more habitable, which may expose bristlecone pines to more predation."

By: a non e mouse

a non e mouse — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:50:08 -0800

Great, but this reminded me of an even greater discovery (?): Dendrochronologists at Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research have used the high living trees, and their dead ancestors, to piece together a tree-ring chronology stretching back 8,840 years, nearly the entirety of the Anthropocene. The Tasmanian 10,500 year old Clonal Huon Pine forest (one tree over an entire mountain top)

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:54:21 -0800

"In the end, the tree endures extreme environmental hardship so that it doesn't have to endure company: its solitude is its salvation." A true Scandinavian this one.

By: rhymer

rhymer — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 02:00:48 -0800

I'm with Joe in Australia here. It was a very over-written article. Felt like 6000 words of sometimes very tangentially related (and often widely well-known) background with the last 400 words actually covering the topic at hand.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 02:36:26 -0800

Not all writing, even on scientific topics, has to be concise; sometimes the trip is as much fun as the destination.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 06:31:52 -0800

I knew the bristle cones were old and I knew we'd "accidentally" cut the oldest tree down in the 60s but everything else in this article was new to me and quite well written IMO. The part about trees standing until sheer erosion of the underlying rock brings them down was especially interesting.

By: mefireader

mefireader — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:53:40 -0800

Song written by Hugh Prestwood. Michael Johnson's rendition is my favorite.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:32:47 -0800

"In the end, the tree endures extreme environmental hardship so that it doesn't have to endure company: its solitude is its salvation." Unlike Plato's Olive Tree, which was hit by a goddamn bus.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:39:31 -0800

And speaking of olive trees: Israel urged to protect West Bank olive trees after settler attacks

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:42:58 -0800

And speaking of claims about olive trees: New Video Shows Palestinians, Left Wing Activists Cutting Down Olive Trees Which is true? Either? Neither? Both? I have no idea, but it's great that the UN and the Guardian have enough energy to focus on this, considering the other things going on in the region.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:33:25 -0800

Olive trees of Gethsemane among oldest in world - study

By: homunculus

homunculus — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:38:33 -0800

After the Rain, Harvesting Olives in the Holy Land The People and The Olive

By: homunculus

homunculus — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:44:28 -0800

In climate puzzle for crops, ancient tree offers clues: On a windswept Swedish mountain, a 10,000-year-old spruce with a claim to be the world's oldest tree is getting a new lease of life thanks to global warming, even as many plants are struggling.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:17:12 -0800

Read My Rings: The Oldest Living Tree Tells All