Decoding the world's oldest tree line

New York [US], June 28: The world's oldest living tree is the Methusaleh bristlecone pine, located in the Inyo National Forest in eastern California . However, the exact location of the tree, which is estimated to be around 4,850 years old, is kept secret by the US Forest Service to avoid the risk of vandalism. Information and photos of the ancient tree have not been released.
According to the History page on June 25, the Methusaleh tree was discovered in the 1950s by Edmund Schulman, a pioneer of dendrochronology, a scientific method of calculating the age and condition of trees based on tree rings.
Schulman was also the first to identify bristlecone pines as among the world's longest-lived trees. In a scientific paper, he noted that the harsh living conditions of bristlecone pines have produced exceptional individuals like Methuselah, which has survived for nearly 5,000 years.
The bristlecone pine has twisted branches that give it a sturdy, solid appearance. Notably, each root system of the tree develops independently and is connected to a section of the trunk, according to the National Park Service. Therefore, if a part of the root dies, the tree can continue to grow and form new roots. This helps the bristlecone pine adapt to an environment that is often lacking water and eroded. The harsh conditions also cause the tree to grow relatively slowly, thereby extending its lifespan. These characteristics have helped Methusaleh outlast Egypt's first pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, which dates back about 4,700 years.
The bristlecone curse?
Peter Brown, a tree chronologist, has compiled the "OldList", a database of the world's oldest living trees. The tree that has lived longer than Methusaleh is a bristlecone pine named Prometheus, located in the Wheeler Peak Forest in Nevada, USA. In 1964, geologist Donald Currey cut down the tree for research, and it was determined to be about 4,900 years old. However, some scientists speculate that it has lived for more than 5,000 years, because counting the rings in the tree trunk is a method that gives relative results.
In addition to the controversial age of Prometheus, Brown claims that there is a bristlecone pine in the world that is more than 5,000 years old, although its location remains a mystery. Schulman has identified a 5,065-year-old tree in the same forest as Methusaleh. However, his records remain incomplete because he died in 1958 at the age of 49.
Three scientists who followed Schulman to the University of Arizona's tree-ring laboratory also died young. The tree-ring chronologist Tom Harlan claimed to have discovered the 5,000-year-old bristlecone pine that Schulman had discovered. However, Harlan died before he could publish details about it. These events were dubbed the "bristlecone curse" by Brown, referring to the deaths of scientists who studied the tree, although it is likely just a coincidence.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper