An Ancient Oak in Italy Just Turned Out to Be Nearly 1,000 Years Old
While mighty oaks do fall, there are a rare few that can stand for nearly a millennium, even under harsh conditions. Radiocarbon dating has now revealed the oldest temperate hardwood tree in the world sits atop a steep rocky slope in a remote mountain belt of the Mediterranean. Here, on this rocky precipice in Italy, lives a community of ancient trees. And one of these oaks has withstood freezing temperatures, snow storms, high-speed winds, and drought for over nine centuries, or 934 ± 65 years to be exact. Even at high elevations - more than 1,000 metres above sea level - it seems that some hardwoods can survive for much longer than we thought. "These long-lived trees are witnesses of our past," says Lucio Calcagnile from the University of Salento, Italy. "The history of our climate, of solar activity, of the human impact on the environment is registered in their rings and we are sure that other important discoveries are going to come." As remar...