Researchers at the University of Padua (Italy) discovered it. It is a juniper in UTSJoki, in the Finnish Lapia. The rings in their trunk determined an unsuspected age. The tree that lived 1647 years. The article has been published in the Ecology magazine.
According to the researchers’ analysis, the juniper began to grow in the year 260 d. C. and died in 1906. The juniper will begin to grow even before. It is really almost impossible to count every year of the plant. It is the oldest bush in the world dated by annual rings. And also the oldest woody plant in Europe determined with this method.
Super resistant
«Juniper is the most widespread woody species in the world. It is found from sea level to the upper limits of vegetation. It is from Alaska to Etna, from Japan to Scotland. It is an extremely eclectic species, capable of tolerating abrasing temperatures and aridity, as in sandy dunes. Also in icy environments near the glaciers. Today, to this record is the one of being the oldest bush in the world ». The leader of the research team, Professor Marco Carrer of the University of Padua.
Initially they calculated that he was 1242 years old. A new review revealed the truth. The tree that lived 1647 years is other long -lived colleagues. The research team also found another four junners in UTSJoki with more than 1000 years old.
Wooden rings
«We study the rings of wood, from which we extract valuable information about climatic changes and the development of vegetation. When we get into the north end, trees give way to smaller plants. Hence the need to focus on a very common and long -term species, but capable of producing rings such as trees. The juniper was perfect for our studies, ”they explain.
They used the cross reference of the annual rings of several ancient junctions collected in the same area. Juniles allow scientists to study climatic variations. For example, exceptional meteorological phenomena or other events that contributed to the growth of the juniper thousands of years ago. The data can also be used to accurately date the archaeological findings of wood material.
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