ltrr.arizona

1. The Oldest Living OrganismsLecture Supplement http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu

2. Bristlecone Pine Tree http://scotthaefner.com

3. Bristlecone Pines • Bristlecone pines live in isolated groves, at tree line, in the mountains of California, Nevada, Utah, and other southwestern states. • They are found on Mt. Baden Powell, just to the south of Angeles Crest Highway near Wrightwood. • The trees grow slowly due to cold temperatures, dry soil, high winds, and short summers. • The wood is dense, resinous, and resistant to insects and fungi, enabling the trees to survive for a very long time.

4. Antiquity • Bristlecone pines can live for several thousand years. • The oldest, the Methuselah tree, is in the White Mountains to the east of Bishop, California. • A core sample indicates Methuselah started life 4,799 years ago—it is the oldest known individual living organism. • The U.S. Forest Service will not reveal its exact location to protect the tree.

5. Bristlecone Forest White Mountains, California http://www.theskyscrapers.org The Sierra Nevada can be seen to the west.

6. Tree Trunk As bristlecone pines age, much of the dies. Narrow bands of living tissue remain to carry nourishment from the roots to the few remaining branches. http://content.answers.com

7. Clues to the Past http://upload.wikimedia.org This bristlecone pine, although long-dead, yields clues to the past, which has enabled biologists to construct a 10,000-year record.

8. Redwood Grove http://www.calacademy.org Coast redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) are the largest single living organisms. Hyperion, the tallest tree measuring 379.1 feet, was only recently discovered. At least 47 trees are more than 344 feet tall.

9. Coast Redwoods • Coast redwood groves are found in a narrow coastal strip from Big Sur to the Klamath Mountains just north of the California-Oregon border. • The seasonal rainfall can average 100 inches where coast redwoods grow and thrive. • The cool coastal air and fog provide moisture at other times of the year. • The largest coast redwoods are found in moist, deep valleys and gullies.

10. Coastal Fog http://upload.wikimedia.org

11. Antiquity • The oldest known coast redwood is about 2,200 years old—many others are older than 600 years. • Many large redwood trees, and perhaps the tallest of all, have been cut-down for their massive amounts of lumber. • Many of the old-growth redwoods are now part of the Redwood National Park.

12. Avenue of the Giants Redwood National Park http://www.sunnyfortuna.com Along old U.S. 101 south of Eureka, California.

13. Enormity Humboldt County, California http://www.sunnyfortuna.com A single redwood tree felled by loggers.

14. The One-Log House Both images from http://www.alamedainfo.com Several redwood log houses once existed—one makes visits to the Los Angeles County Fair.

15. World-Famous Tree House Both images from http://www.alamedainfo.com Mendocino County, California

16. Drive-Through Sequoias All images from http://www.alamedainfo.com

17. To the mill http://www.oac.cdlib.org Clear cutting http://www.siskiyouhistory.org Early Logging in a Redwood Forest

18. Poor Habitat Management Humboldt County, California http://www.krisweb.com Clear-cutting damage extends to riparian (river and stream) habitats.

19. American (Quaking) Aspen http://upload.wikimedia.org An shimmering ocean of Populus tremuloides occurs even in a gentle breeze.

20. Aspen Leaf http://www.bio.brandeis.com The flattened leaf stems enable the leaves to flutter in the breeze.

21. North American Range http://plantwatch.sunsite.ualberta.ca

22. Clonal Colonies • An aspen grove is a clonal colony—trees grow as shoots from a single root system. • All of the trees in a colony are genetically identical since they originated from a single ancestor. • A living chain exists from the oldest to the newest growth, although the oldest trees died a long time ago.

23. Aspen Grove Rocky Mountains http://uploadwikipedia.org The leaves turn red and yellow in the autumn making aspen groves a favorite tourist attraction.

24. Antiquity • The Pando aspen grove in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah could be 80,000 years old, and possibly much older. • Pando, the largest known living organism, extends over three-and-one-half million square feet. • Creosote form clonal colonies in the western United States, and they can also be very old.

25. Creosote Bush Tucson, Arizona http://allergy.peds.arizona.edu The clonal nature of creosote can be evident when viewed from a airplane.

26. Tree Rings http://upload.wikimedia.org Tree rings can tell a story about the past.

27. Dendrochronology • Annual growth rings provide a biological record of a tree’s age. • The rings can also provide historical information about weather and forest fires in some species. • Tree-ring dating, or dendrochronology, is a scientific method for dating the age of trees. • Core samples are taken with a hollow drill bit so that the trees do not need to be cut down. • The inner portion of a growth ring forms in the spring, and the outer portion in the summer or fall.

28. Tree Trunk http://z.about.com

29. Tools http://www.upload.wikimedia.org Hollow drill bit, measuring stick, and two core samples are shown.

30. Tree Ring Growth • Growth rings are narrower in dry years than in wet years. • A historical record of the climate can be established for an area or region by tracing the growth rings. • Douglas fir, found in the Western United States, are often used for dating purposes since they have good concentric tree ring growth in a large trunk.

31. Historical Record of Wildfires http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu A record of nine wildfires over the past 300+ years can be seen in the tree trunk.

32. Historical Record of Climate Patterns A 2129-year reconstruction of precipitation (rain and snow) in the mountains of northwest New Mexico. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

33. Some animals have lived a long time, although not as long as some trees and other vegetation.

34. Harriett http://www.lifestart.com Once known as Harry until someone finally turned her over. http://www.sunshinecoast.com

35. The Oldest Animal? • Charles Darwin brought a young giant tortoise to England from his visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1835. • Harriett who, spent her later years in the Australia Zoo in Queensland, died in 2006. • She was thought to have hatched in 1831, meaning she lived over 175 years. • A few giant tortoises are thought to have lived longer than Harriett.

36. Koi Pond http://www.huntington.org Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California

37. Even Older Animals • A koi fish—known as Hanako—died in 1977, apparently after hatching 226 years before in 1751. • Coral, which are species of animals, have lived as long as 4,000 years.

38. Manx Shearwater http://www.llynmarinecharters.supanet.com Pelagic birds can range across entire oceans.

39. Migration and Breeding • The Manx Shearwater migrates each year from its breeding grounds in the British Isles to South America. • They are efficient fliers since they glide on air currents rather than flap their wings continuously. • They are only found on land during the breeding season when they dig burrows for their nests.

40. The Oldest Wild Bird? • Ornithologists band these seabirds to learn about their migratory patterns and behavior. • In April 2002, on an island off the north coast of Wales, one Manx Shear-water among several thousand stood out. • Its leg band had been recorded in 1961 and 1977—the band was installed in 1957 when the bird was about five years old. • This one bird may have flown five million miles during its lifetime in hunting for food and its annual migrations. • At age 50, the bird was still breeding when it was rediscovered in 2002.