Ancient trees in Amazonia (original) (raw)

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• Published: 08 January 1998

Nature volume 391, pages 135–136 (1998) Cite this article

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Abstract

The ages of tropical rain forest trees provide critical information for understanding the dynamics of tree populations, determining historical patterns of disturbance, developing sustainable forestry practices and calculating carbon cycling rates. Nevertheless, the ecological life history of most tropical trees is unknown and even the ages of the largest trees remain to be determined. Tree ages are typically measured by counting annual rings, but in tropical forests rings can be non-existent, annual or irregular1. In the absence of annual rings, 14C dating is the only way to determine the age of a tree directly. We have 14C-dated twenty large, emergent trees from a central Amazon rain forest and find that, contrary to conventional views, trees in these forests can be more than 1,400 years old.

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Figure 1: Radiocarbon dates for central Amazon trees.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California
   Jeffrey Q. Chambers
2. USAand Health and Ecological Assessment Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, 94550, California, USA
   Jeffrey Q. Chambers
3. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), CP 478, 69.011, Manaus-Amazonas, Brazil
   Niro Higuchi
4. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA
   Joshua P. Schimel

Authors

1. Jeffrey Q. Chambers
2. Niro Higuchi
3. Joshua P. Schimel

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Chambers, J., Higuchi, N. & Schimel, J. Ancient trees in Amazonia.Nature 391, 135–136 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/34325

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• Issue date: 08 January 1998
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/34325

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