Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Tim Dolan

Bristlecone pines include the oldest living trees in the world. They have been used to calibrate carbon-14 dating systems.

Figure 1 is a photograph taken in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of California's White Mountains. The ranger at the visitor's center told us that these trees have enabled historians to revise their views by providing more accurate dates for archaeological artifacts.

Figure 1. The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of California's White Mountains. Bristlecone pines include the world's oldest living trees, at least one of which is 4,700 years old. Photograph by Tim Dolan.

The web includes excellent articles about bristlecone pines, and one such site is here.

Bristlecone pines are found in high, arid sites. Visiting them is a late spring through early fall activity. The White Mountain Visitor's Center is at an elevation of 3,048 meters (10,000 feet). Roads are in-accessible during winter. It can be cold, windy and dry in the White Mountains, even in the summer months.

Visitors must not pick up any dead wood in the park. While the oldest living tree is about 4,700 years old, intercomparisons of wood from living trees and dead trees has extended the time line to about 8,000 years. The dendrochronologists who study bristlecone pine rings do not want a piece of wood that might extend their timeline to end up as firewood or as someone's decoration.

Figure 1 and other photographs I made of bristlecone pines was made using a Casio EX-Z120 digital camera that I purchased after reading about it in the The Citizen Scientist. This camera is very nice, because of its small size and weight. It is easy to always have with you. While it is now out of production, Casio has replaced it with even better models.

Wanted: Gallery Contributions

Contributions to "Gallery" are welcomed. Please submit sharp JPEG photographs and a caption of from a few sentences to several paragraphs. Be sure to include the full name(s) of any people in your submission. To the best of your ability, provide both the common name and the genus and species of any plants or animals. Common names are lower case, as in the live oak tree. The genus is capitalized and the species is not, as in: The live oak (Quercus virginiana) keeps its leaves during winter. Also provide information about the camera that made the photograph.

Send your contribution as an e-mail to the Editor. Place "Gallery" in the subject line. Be sure to include your full name. Attach the photograph as a JPEG.

Thank you for considering The Citizen Scientist. Editor.