Natural History Wanderings

Morton Arboretum reports

New research suggests that ancient trees possess far more than an awe-inspiring presence and a suite of ecological services to forests—they also sustain the entire population of trees’ ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

In the February edition of Nature Plants, Chuck Cannon, PhD, director of The Morton Arboretum’s Center for Tree Science in Lisle, Ill., USA, and collaborators at Tuscia University in Italy and the University of Barcelona in Spain, report that old and ancient trees (often more than 10 to 20 times older than the average individual in the forest) radically change the overall genetic diversity and composition fitness of their surrounding populations. The findings also indicate that these trees contribute evolutionary properties to forests that are vital to their long-term survival.

Read more at  Ancient trees deemed vital to forest survival | The Morton Arboretum