ENTS, The secret life of ancient trees An ancient evergreen tree reveals its secret life to scientists, helping them decode climate history.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/10/the-secret-life-of-ancient-trees/ "Fokienia." It is a massive evergreen tree. Lichens hang from the 6-foot-wide trunk and thick vines climb 120 feet to limbs hosting orchids, ferns, and mosses. It is exactly the kind of ancient tree that the researchers had hoped to find and whose climate history can now begin to be unlocked. In the late 1990s, Japanese researchers discovered that Fokienia hodginsii had all the characteristics they were looking for in a tropical species. The tree had identifiable rings that were produced annually, the ring samples could be cross-dated between trees, and the ring patterns over time recorded the climate in which it grew. Ed Frank Check out my new Blog: http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ (and click on some of the ads) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
