Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at Black River, North Carolina

Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest livin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Research Communications 2019-05, Vol.1 (4), p.41002
Main Authors: Stahle, D W, Edmondson, J R, Howard, I M, Robbins, C R, Griffin, R D, Carl, A, Hall, C B, Stahle, D K, Torbenson, M C A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ancient bald cypress
Atmospheric circulation
Climate
climate proxy
Conservation organizations
Conservation status
Dendrochronology
Forested wetlands
Logging
Nature conservation
Northern Hemisphere
Plant species
Pollution levels
Radiocarbon dating
Radiometric dating
Rivers
Sea level rise
Stream pollution
Taxodium distichum
Trees
Water pollution
wetland conservation
Wetlands
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth. The annual ring-width chronology developed from the ancient Black River bald cypress trees is positively correlated with growing season precipitation totals over the southeastern United States and with atmospheric circulation over the Northern Hemisphere, providing the longest exactly-dated climate proxy yet developed in eastern North America. The Nature Conservancy owns 6,400 ha in their Black River Preserve and the North Carolina legislature is considering establishment of a Black River State Park, but ancient forested wetlands are found along most of this 106 km stream and remain threatened by logging, water pollution, and sea level rise.
ISSN:2515-7620
2515-7620
DOI:10.1088/2515-7620/ab0c4a