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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Where are Earth’s oldest trees? Far from prying eyes

A comprehensive tally identifies 30 trees more than 2 millennia old, almost all growing at high altitudes.
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) ancient tree in the White Mountains of California, USA.

A bristlecone pine in California. The two oldest trees in the world are members of the species. Credit: Juan Carlos Munoz/Nature Picture Library

Ancient trees thrive where humans don’t: on the remote, rocky slopes of high mountains. So shows an analysis of tens of thousands of trees1.

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Nature 603, 768 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00832-x

References

  1. Liu, J. et al. Conserv. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13907 (2022).

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