[NatureNS] Very old oak tree

From: Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:15:26 -0300
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Hi folks,

There's a paper by Colin Laroque from the Mount Allison  
Dendrochronology Lab on what is believed to have been the oldest red  
oak (Quercus rubra) on Prince Edward Island which was dated at 126  
years old.

	http://www.mta.ca/madlab/2006-01.pdf

The "Oldlist" database of ancient trees cites Orwig et al. (2001) as  
having found found the oldest red oak (Quercus rubra) ever recorded at  
326 years of age.

	http://www.rmtrr.org/oldlist.htm

There's a list of old red oaks (Quercus rubra) ranging between 326 and  
134 years from various parts of the United States which is part of the  
eastern Oldlist:

	http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/Spp/QURU.html

This includes a photograph of Dr. David Orwig standing next to the  
oldest known living Quercus rubra (326 yrs) on Wachusett Mountain just  
outside of Boston, Massachusetts. This was taken in 2006 so, if the  
tree is still standing, it is presumably now 332 years old.

There's also an article in Science Daily from 2000 on what is believed  
to be the oldest recorded hardwood east of the Mississippi, a white  
oak (Quercus alba) that was felled in Ohio a storm in 1998, which was  
373 years old.

	http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001103071631.htm

Based on  the above, there's really no chance that a red oak in Nova  
Scotia would be over 400 years old. Even a tree half that age would be  
an extremely old one for this region.

Cheers!

Chris

On 25-Sep-12, at 12:48 PM, Ian Manning wrote:

> Hello Dave, Heather and all,
>
> I'd be inclined to side with Dave, it seems unlikely the tree was  
> over 400 years old. I just did a little research, and found this  
> website which claims that the oldest red oak (Quercus rubra) was  
> measured in Netherlands in 2011. It was 210 years old +/- 10 years,  
> and had a diameter of  5.84m! To put this in perspective, the red  
> oak in the Nature NS big-tree registry with the largest diameter was  
> 2.84m.
>
> It should be noted however that a large diameter tree does not  
> always indicate an old tree and vise-versa. A  long-lived tree that  
> has grown in unfavorable conditions  could live to a ripe old age  
> without reaching an enormous diameter. If you ever age black spruce  
> in a swamp, you'd be amazed how old a small tree can be!
>
> This being said, it should definitely be looked at! If no-one  
> checked the age of trees, we wouldn't ever find the records! It  
> would be great to get a ring count. If you're not able to get a good  
> look at the rings, can you get a positive ID on the species of oak?  
> If it's an oak from Europe, I think we can say with confidence that  
> it's not older than 400 years.
>
> Ian



Christopher Majka  <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> | Halifax, Nova Scotia,  
Canada

* Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum | http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm
* Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin | http://www.coleopsoc.org/
* Subject Editor: ZooKeys | http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index
* Review Editor: Zootaxa | http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/taxa/Coleoptera.html
* Associate Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society | http://www.acadianes.org/journal.html
* Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera | http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/PDF/index.html
* Editor: Bugguide, Coleoptera http://bugguide.net

Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like an old war- 
horse at the sound of a trumpet. - Charles Darwin


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<html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Hi =
folks,</div><div><br></div>There's a paper by Colin Laroque from the =
Mount Allison Dendrochronology Lab on what is believed to have been the =
oldest red oak&nbsp;(<i>Quercus rubra</i>)&nbsp;on Prince Edward Island =
which was dated at 126 years old.<div><br></div><div><span =
class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre">	<a =
href=3D"http://www.mta.ca/madlab/2006-01.pdf">http://www.mta.ca/madlab/200=
6-01.pdf</a></span></div><div><br></div><div><div>The "Oldlist" database =
of ancient trees cites Orwig et al. (2001) as having found found the =
oldest red oak (<i>Quercus rubra</i>) ever recorded at 326 years of =
age.</div><div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span" =
style=3D"white-space: pre; ">	<a =
href=3D"http://www.rmtrr.org/oldlist.htm">http://www.rmtrr.org/oldlist.htm=
</a></span></div><div><br></div><div>There's a list of old red oaks =
(<i>Quercus rubra</i>) ranging between 326 and 134 years from various =
parts of the United States which is part of the eastern =
Oldlist:</div><div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span" =
style=3D"white-space:pre">	<a =
href=3D"http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/Spp/QURU.html">http:=
//www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/Spp/QURU.html</a></span></div><di=
v><br></div><div>This includes a photograph of&nbsp;Dr. David Orwig =
standing next to the oldest known living&nbsp;<i>Quercus =
rubra</i>&nbsp;(326 yrs) on Wachusett Mountain just outside of Boston, =
Massachusetts. This was taken in 2006 so, if the tree is still standing, =
it is presumably now 332 years =
old.</div><div><br></div></div><div>There's also an article in Science =
Daily from 2000 on what is believed to be the oldest recorded hardwood =
east of the Mississippi, a white oak (<i>Quercus alba</i>) that was =
felled in Ohio a storm in 1998, which was 373 years =
old.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span" =
style=3D"white-space:pre">	<a =
href=3D"http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001103071631.htm">htt=
p://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001103071631.htm</a></span></div=
><div><br></div><div>Based on &nbsp;the above, there's really no chance =
that a red oak in Nova Scotia would be over 400 years old. Even a tree =
half that age would be an extremely old one for this =
region.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</d=
iv><d