Comments on: Charismatic Megaflora: What do Old Trees Look Like?

By: How fast can trees migrate? | The Contemplative Mammoth

How fast can trees migrate? | The Contemplative Mammoth — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:57:51 +0000

[...] The simple story of the last two and a half million years of vegetation response to climate change could be summed up like this: temperatures go up and down, plants go back and forth. We’ve had over a dozen ice ages and interglacials since the beginning of the Quaternary, our current geologic period. In response, flora and fauna are repeatedly displaced by the expanding ice sheets and changing climates. As carbon dioxide concentrations approach 400 ppm (any day now) for the first time since the mid-Pliocene, ecologists and conservation biologists turn to the paleorecord to get a sense of how well plants can track their optimal climates. Because trees are important foundational species, slower-growing, and make up a large proportion of both modern biomass and the pollen record, most research on plant migration rates focuses on these charismatic megaflora. [...]

By: The Meaning of Water | Mongolian Climate, Ecology & Culture

The Meaning of Water | Mongolian Climate, Ecology & Culture — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 00:43:19 +0000

[...] point you to the biggest, most beautiful tree and claim it’s the oldest – when in fact the scraggliest, ugliest tree is usually much older (Editor’s note: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder). [...]

By: Oceans of Ancient Wood and Coming Full Circle | Mongolian Climate, Ecology & Culture

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:10:30 +0000

[...] and Oyunsanaa (Sanaa) Byambasuren. This tree, though dead, captures many of the characteristics of old trees (charismatic megaflora) while also having the weathered, ‘stressed’ form of trees [...]

By: Finally – Some true Turkish Delight! Discovery of some tasty oaks – State of the Planet

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 15:53:37 +0000

[...] their bounty. The oaks were not big, but as regular readers of this blog might understand, size doesn’t equal age. The smallish oaks looked to have at least 150 rings. The loggers gave us a sample, we shook hands, [...]