Bristlecone Pine is one of the oldest living organisms on the planet
From Wikipedia:
This one aove might have died hundreds of years ago, but still stands. Its wood gives clues to scientists who read the rings to compare to rings of living trees, making a 9,000-year-long record.
Bristlecone pines are known for attaining great ages. A specimen of Pinus longaeva located in the White Mountains of California is 5,068 years old according to measurements by Tom Harlan.[1] This is the oldest known individual tree in the world. The identity of the specimen is being kept secret by Harlan. Another well-known bristlecone from the White Mountains is Methuselah which is 4,850 years old. Its specific location is also being kept secret.
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. It is believed that the longevity of the trees is 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.
Note that 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 of the United States, has been estimated to be 80,000 years old, although tree ring samples date individual, above-ground, trees at only an average of about 130 years.
The Rocky Mountain population is severely threatened by an introduced fungal disease known as white pine blister rust, and by pine beetles. Another problem that the species face is climate change as temperatures have increased 0.5–1 °C within the past 30 years 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. It is noted that old specimens have, however, survived previous warmer periods.
When the trees die, they become sources of firewood fuel. We are very lucky to have some Bristlecone pine this winter.
