Scientists are uncertain about what effects climate change may have on bristlecone pine. This species is highly tolerant of drought. One tree was found with year-old pine needles modified leaves that were still functional and photosynthesizing, despite periods of drought.
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In 4 seconds , you will be redirected to nwfactionfund. The National Wildlife Federation. Great Basin Bristlecone Pine. Classification: Plant. Description Great Basin bristlecone pines can have one or many trunks. Range These pines are found in California, Nevada, and Utah across a range of altitudes. Life History The Great Basin bristlecone pine is a conifer, which means it produces seeds in cones rather than in flowers.
Conservation Because of its small, fragmented distribution, this species is considered to be vulnerable, although it does occur in protected areas. Fun Fact This species is highly tolerant of drought. Cones that lack the anthocyanin pigment and stay green may not develop their seed [ 87 ].
Seed production continues well into old age. On Wheeler Peak, trees over 3, years old produce viable seed. Total number of seeds produced decreases with tree age, however. As Great Basin bristlecone pines age, their total number of living branches decreases [ 30 ]. Seed dispersal: Seed is dispersed by wind [ 85 ]. It has been suggested, but not proven, that Clark's nutcrackers disperse Great Basin bristlecone pine seeds [ 84 , 86 , 88 ].
If it occurs, such a method of seed dispersal has important implications for Great bristlecone pine's genetic structure and ability to establish on disturbed sites such as burns. Clark's nutcrackers bury seeds in caches. A growth form of clumped trees that fuse at the stem is characteristic of establishment resulting from Clark's nutcracker seed dispersal [ 84 ]. Great Basin bristlecone pine clumps are common at high elevations of the White Mountains [ 86 ].
For example, the Patriarch, a foot- m diameter specimen that may be the world's oldest living tree, is composed of 7 to 9 stems [ 88 ]. When an individual tree has multiple stems, genetic marker tests show that each stem is genetically identical. If several individual trees fuse at the base as a result of close planting by Clark's nutcrackers, forming a multi-stemmed tree clump, individual stems retain their separate genetic identities.
Genetic marker tests can show if fused stems are genetically identical or different [ ]. To date , only 1 genetic marker study has been conducted on Great Basin bristlecone pine.
This Ancient Bristlecone Pine Botanical Area study did not support the bird-dispersal hypothesis; instead, it showed that most Great Basin bristlecone pine clumps were composed of a single tree with multiple stems. Of tree clumps tested, only 6 were composed of genetically different stems. Stems of the Patriarch were genetically identical, indicating that it is a single tree [ 90 ]. However, a single study does not rule out the possibility of Clark's nutcracker dispersal of Great Basin bristlecone pine seeds.
Torick [ ] observed Clark's nutcrackers caching Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine seed in Colorado. Further studies are required across Great Basin bristlecone pine's range to determine the influence, if any, of Clark's nutcrackers on Great Basin bristlecone pine's mating system and seedling establishment.
Seed banking: No information is available on this topic. Germination: Seed is immediately germinable [ 87 ].
Few seed trials on Great Basin bristlecone pine seed viability have been published. Germination trials of Great Basin bristlecone pine seeds in the U. Conner and Lanner [ 30 ] found a wide range of germination rates in Great Basin bristlecone pine seeds collected from the Methuselah Grove of the White Mountains and from a site on Mammoth Creek on the Dixie National Forest.
Seedling establishment: Seedling establishment is a rare event for Great Basin bristlecone pine. Since Great Basin bristlecone pine primarily grows on dry, nutrient-poor soils, conditions favorable to Great Basin bristlecone pine germination and growth are infrequent [ 20 , 66 ]. Wild burro browsing and trampling can damage or kill Great Basin bristlecone pine seedlings [ 96 ]. Growth: Growth rates of Great Basin bristlecone pine on harsh sites are very slow.
Wright [ ] reported heights of 5. Diameter growth rate of Great Basin bristlecone pines on Wheeler Peak, Nevada, is estimated at 1 inch 2. Mature trees on harsh sites often cease height growth after reaching 15 to 30 feet 4. Factors slowing growth include high elevation, extreme temperatures, dry, nutrient-poor soils, strong winds, south and west aspects, and high amounts of solar radiation [ 15 ].
Great Basin bristlecone pine shows rapid growth on good sites [ 57 ]. Bare [ 13 ] reported relatively rapid growth and good form upright and conical of Great Basin bristlecone pine on deep limestone soils near the gently sloping summit of Bastian Peak, east-central Nevada. East- and north-facing slopes supported best growth and highest Great Basin bristlecone pine densities.
Great age does not necessarily slow growth. Conner and Lanner [ 28 ] found that on sites in the Dixie National Forest and White Mountains, stem shoots from old trees did not show reduced growth compared to shoots of younger trees.
Tree age varied from 14 to 2, years in southern Utah sites and from to 4, years in the White Mountains. Senescence and death: Great Basin bristlecone pine growing on high-elevation sites age very slowly. Lanner and Conner [ 80 ] tested several parameters of plant aging vascular system function, photosynthetic balance, and mutation loads in pollen, seed, and seedling progeny in Great Basin bristlecone pines on the Inyo and Dixie National Forests.
Tree ages ranged from 23 to 4, years. None of the parameters had a statistically significant relationship to tree age. The authors concluded "the concept of senescence does not apply to these trees.
High-elevation, arid environments are poor habitats for insects and root-decaying fungi, so Great Basin bristlecone pines in those environments succumb to disease very slowly.
Most high-elevation Great Basin bristlecone pines eventually die from root rot decay or soil erosion, which exposes and kills roots [ 87 ]. Localized fire may kill a few trees see Immediate Fire Effect on Plant. Lower-elevation Great Basin bristlecone pines succumb more quickly to various agents of mortality see Other Management Considerations.
Barriers to regeneration: Great Basin bristlecone pine populations are sensitive to fluctuations climate [ 11 ].
Hiebert [ 57 ] found low seedling establishment of eastern Nevada populations during cool, dry periods approximately and 2,, BP.
Effects of current climatic conditions on Great Basin bristlecone pine regeneration are uncertain. On dolomite soils in the White Mountains, seedlings are establishing beyond both the current upper and lower elevational limits of mature Great Basin bristlecone pines. Regeneration is sparse, and within current elevational limits of mature trees, on shale soils [ ]. However, Lanner [ 82 ] cautions that climate warming is hindering Great Basin bristlecone pine regeneration on sites in the interior Great Basin.
Soils: Great Basin bristlecone pine is most common on thin, rocky substrates. Soils are usually derived from limestone or dolomite [ 54 , 64 , 83 , ], although some populations grow on sandstone or quarzite [ 87 ].
Dolomite soils are alkaline, high in calcium and magnesium, and low in phosphorus. Those factors tend to exclude other plant species.
For example, limber pine codominates or associates with Great Basin bristlecone pine on dolomite soils in the White Mountains, but becomes the dominant species on granitic soils [ 46 ]. Some Great Basin bristlecone pine populations on Wheeler Peak occur on quartzite and monzonite soils, although most are on limestone [ 13 , 56 , 57 , 83 ].
Bare [ 13 ] found that on Wheeler Peak, Great Basin bristlecone pine dominated on high-elevation, limestone-derived soils, but was unable to compete with curlleaf mountain-mahogany on high-elevation monzonite-derived soils. On the Colorado Plateau of western Utah, Great Basin bristlecone pine grows on limestone and, more infrequently, glacial till substrates that are "extremely low" in available nutrients.
Except at highest elevations, the more nutrient-rich, mesic soils are occupied by Engelmann spruce [ 56 ]. Isolated Great Basin bristlecone pines may occur on open mesic sites throughout the species' range [ 55 , ].
Elevation: Across its range, Great Basin bristlecone pine occurs from 7, to 12, feet elevation [ 54 , 87 ]. Ranges by state are:. Elevational range of Great Basin bristlecone pine has varied over time and space [ 79 ]. Hiebert and Hamrick [ 55 ] noted a downward shift in the current elevational range of 3 populations in southern Utah and eastern Nevada, with snags and cone-bearing trees, but no seedlings or saplings, above Great Basin bristlecone pine's present elevational zone of establishment.
LaMarche [ 71 ] noted a downward population shift on sites in the White Mountains. Great Basin bristlecone pine's zone of establishment has been expanding downward in the White Mountains since around Great Basin bristlecone pine's elevational range may also be shifting upwards in the White Mountains [ ]. Climate: Great Basin bristlecone pine occurs in arid climates that are cold in winter and droughty in summer.
Within Great Basin bristlecone pine's geographic range, climate becomes increasingly dry from the Wasatch Range of eastern Utah to the White Mountains of western Nevada and eastern California. Growth of Great Basin bristlecone pine populations in eastern California and extreme western Nevada is affected by California's mediterranean climate.
More interior populations are influenced by the interior continental climate, which has summer monsoons. Correspondingly, eastern populations tend to be larger, denser, and have a greater range in their lower elevational limits [ 57 ].
The White Mountains lie directly behind the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, in the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada's range. Summer rain is scarce; most precipitation falls as winter snow. Mean monthly temperatures are below freezing from November through April. In contrast, mean annual precipitation on Great Basin bristlecone pine sites in the Snake Range of eastern Nevada is about twice that of Great Basin bristlecone pine sites in the White Mountains Pace and others , as cited in [ 78 ].
The ability of Great Basin bristlecone pines to grow to full stature up to treeline in the White Mountains, while forming krummholz at treeline in eastern Nevada, is probably due to differences in climate. Physiological and morphological adjustments made in the needles in response to summer drought in the White Mountains also protect trees from winter desiccation, which is largely responsible for inducing krummholz growth [ 78 ].
In geologic time, Great Basin bristlecone pine showed best population expansion with cool temperatures. Best development of Great Basin bristlecone pine forests occurred during the Pleistocene. In the Great Basin, extensive Great Basin bristlecone pine Pleistocene forests extended down mountain slopes to near Lake Bonneville's ancient shoreline. Great Basin bristlecone pines also occupied Mojave Basin mountain slopes, where they are now absent [ , , ].
Great Basin bristlecone pine populations on marginal sites of the interior Great Basin are threatened by climate change. Already forced to mountain tops by global warming, these populations have run out of suitably cool, moist conditions for seedling establishment [ 57 , 88 , ]. Great Basin bristlecone pine is shade intolerant and cannot establish in dense forest [ 13 , 17 , 83 ]. On low-elevation sites in eastern Nevada and Utah, Engelmann spruce, and to a lesser extent, limber pine, successionally replace Great Basin bristlecone pine on mesic, relatively nutrient-rich soils [ 13 , 17 ].
As of this writing , methods of Great Basin bristlecone pine postfire seedling establishment are undocumented. Clark's nutcracker dispersal of Great Basin bristlecone pine seed onto burns, if such dispersal occurs, would greatly enhance Great Basin bristlecone pine's ability to regenerate after fire [ 84 , 86 , 88 ].
Even without Clark's nutcrackers, Great Basin bristlecone pine seeds can colonize burns through wind dispersal [ 87 ]. The postfire competitive ability of Great Basin bristlecone pine seedlings is largely unknown. Research is needed on postfire succession in Great Basin bristlecone pine communities and in mixed-conifer forest communities where Great Basin bristlecone pine is important. Fire regimes: Fire is infrequent on high-elevation sites dominated by Great Basin bristlecone pine.
Stands are very open, and productivity is low. When fires do occur at high elevations, they are usually small, low-severity surface fires [ 21 ]. Stand dynamics in high-elevation Great Basin bristlecone pine communities are more influenced by climate and seed dispersal patterns than by fire [ 21 , 81 , 83 , 84 ]. Due to their old age, these trees act as climatic vaults, storing thousands of years of weather data within their rings.
This method of research is valuable to the study of climate change. Currey found a tree in this grove he believed to be well over 4, years old. This tree was known by local mountaineers as Prometheus. There are several accounts of how Prometheus met its end.
Others say he did not know how to core such a large tree, or that the borer was too short. Yet others say Currey felt he needed a full cross section to better examine the rings of the tree. We may never know the true story of what happened to Prometheus, but we do know one thing for certain; Currey had permission from the Forest Service to have the tree cut down.
Counting the rings later revealed that Prometheus contained 4, growth rings. Due to the harsh conditions these trees grow in, it is likely that a growth ring did not form every year.
Because of this, Prometheus was estimated at being 4, years old, the oldest known tree of its time. After the death of Prometheus, the oldest known living tree was a 4, year old bristlecone pine found in the White Mountains of California. There is a good chance there are older bristlecone pines that have not yet been dated. According to ancient Greek myths, Prometheus was an immortal who brought fire symbolic of knowledge to humans.
Prometheus the bristlecone pine also imparted much knowledge to humans. Information gained by studying this significant tree added to the knowledge of carbon dating which is valuable to archeologists and paleontologists and climate data.
Bristlecone pines are now protected on federal lands. The stump of Prometheus is all that remains of the ancient giant within the grove.
If you would like to travel through history by counting the rings of Prometheus, you can do so at the Great Basin National Park visitor center. Explore This Park. Great Basin National Park Nevada.
Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Bristlecone Pines. Bristlecones grow at high elevations where nothing else can grow. New pinecones on a bristlecone are purple.
The Prometheus Story Bristlecone pines are said to be the oldest known living trees.
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