Life span of common birch. Height and lifespan of trees. Which tree lives the longest

The life expectancy of trees primarily depends on the type and conditions. environment. Most live for about a century, but there are record holders who are a thousand years old or more. Of course we are talking about strong, healthy trees that are in favorable conditions and are not cut down by man.

How to find out the age of a tree?

Before you find out how many trees live, it is useful to understand how their age is calculated. The fact is that they grow in width unevenly. Trees get their energy from the sun through photosynthesis. Of course, during periods solar activity growth is more active, and during periods of reduced sun intensity, growth slows down.

The expansion of the tree trunk occurs due to the cambium - a special tissue that creates living cells inward (towards the center of the trunk) and outward from itself (towards the bark). The cells that are inside the cambium become part of the wood - the support system that carries nutrients from the roots to the leaves. Cells located outside the cambium (under the cortex) deliver organic matter from leaves to roots, this tissue is called bast.

In spring, the cambium creates wide cells with narrow walls. They are needed for more efficient and faster delivery of nutrients and trace elements. In autumn, the cambium produces narrow, thick-walled cells that give the tree trunk a special strength. Thus, two types of fabrics are produced per year: one layer (spring) is lighter, the other layer (autumn) is much darker.

The number of bands is best determined using a microscope and special dyes, as they are quite narrow. By the number of dark and light rings, one can estimate not only the age of a tree, but also climatic conditions in which it grew. Wider dark areas indicate an unfavorable, cold autumn and a long winter.

To find out the age of a tree, you need to cut it down. In some cases this is not possible or desirable.

In such a situation, the method of counting the average indicators is used. At the level of one and a half meters, the circumference of the trunk is calculated (in centimeters) and divided by the constant π (~ 3.14), in this way the diameter of the tree is found.

This value is divided by the average annual growth for the studied plant species in the given region. The result is an approximate indicator of the tree's lifespan. Of course, this method gives only approximate figures. At the same time, the difference between them and the actual number of years can reach 20-30% or more.

Therefore, the most common way is cutting down the tree and counting the number of rings.

What affects lifespan?

Before figuring out how many years trees live, consider what affects their age. Life expectancy is highly dependent on various environmental conditions. The most influential factors include:

1. Genetic individual capabilities of the plant. At first glance, they are all the same, but in fact, the shape and size of the leaves, the activity of the cambium, and other characteristics vary among the trees. All this has a strong influence on the adaptive capacity of the plant to adverse conditions.
2. Soil characteristics. Its composition, saturation with water, saturation with microelements and nutrients. On impoverished agricultural land, trees may grow poorly, while across the road, on rich, uncultivated soil, plants can live for centuries.
3. Humidity and temperature have little effect, since the climate in each band is usually stable over a long period of time. The exception is global changes weather ( ice ages). Of course, for short-lived plants, even a slight drought can have a fatal effect.
4. Terrain characteristics (the presence of a slope, mountain or large buildings) greatly change the level of illumination, strength, wind direction and other important parameters. And they, in turn, significantly reduce or increase the life of the tree.
5. Characteristics of the forest. At high density tall trees that grow nearby, the chances of a particular plant to reach a significant size are rather small. It also affects species diversity, for example, it is very difficult for a deciduous tree to grow in a dark coniferous forest.
6. Diseases and pests. Pests include insects that gnaw on the bark and leaves, as well as animals and arthropods that gnaw on the roots. Diseases in trees are bacterial and fungal.

These are the most important natural conditions. But there are also artificial ones. A tree lives less in a heavily polluted urban environment. Conversely, life expectancy increases significantly in large parks where there is no dirt, but there is plant care and protection from pests and diseases.

On deciduous trees

Interestingly, the life expectancy of wild trees is much higher than that of cultivated fruit plants. This is due to the fact that man, by selection, created crops that gave maximum yields in the shortest possible time. Such high productivity is directly related to the fact that the tree has few forces and resources left for itself, it gives everything to fruit. As a result, lives are much shorter.

The most common fruit trees in our latitude are apple and pear trees. They live up to half a century maximum, but wild species can grow 100-150 years. Other crops - plum, sea buckthorn - live up to 20-30 years. This is due to the fact that these crops traditionally grow in southern latitudes. For example, a peach in our strip generally does not live longer than 15 years.

All wild deciduous trees take much longer to grow. Aspen and alder live up to 150 years, walnut trees live an average of 2 centuries. Elm, ash and birch grow up to 3 centuries, and beech lives up to 500 years. But the oak is the champion - it lives on average for one and a half millennia. Of course, we are talking about the possible life potential of these tree species, since in real modern conditions no one will let them live more than 100-200 years.

At the coniferous trees

coniferous plants live much longer than deciduous trees. This is due to a lower metabolism, serious ability to adapt to harsh climatic conditions. crown shape coniferous tree allows you to extract maximum amount energy that the sun can provide.

A highly branched root system also helps to survive, as well as the fact that even in winter period the needles continue to produce nutrients, albeit in minimal quantities. At the same time, the roots are able to get minerals and water even from the frozen ground. At the same time, the needles are covered with wax, which does not allow water to evaporate.

Fir is the shortest living plant among conifers can exist up to 2 centuries. Spruce is common in our country and live up to 600 years. European larch lives up to 500 years, and its Siberian counterpart - up to 900 years (a clear example of the influence of low metabolism). Cedar pine lives up to 1000 years, but the main long-lived tree is

in mixed and deciduous forests The northern hemisphere is often found birch tree. It is one of the most common deciduous plants. temperate latitudes. Botanists have recorded more than 100 varieties of the birch family. They are represented by trees or small shrubs.

The name of the genus birch is associated with the Old Slavic word "glow, turn white", which characterizes the appearance of the plant. The Latin name betula - "white" has a similar meaning.

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Description

Birch has a straight, even trunk. The size of the tree depends on the type and growing conditions:

• height 35–45 m;
• trunk girth 1,-1.5 m.

Birch is traditionally represented as white-trunked, but the bark of the tree has a rich palette of shades:

• white;
• yellowish;
• pinkish;
• reddish brown;
• gray;
• brown;
• black.

A characteristic light color is given to the bark by the substance betulin contained in the layer of cork tissue. The outer part - birch bark - peels off easily. In ancient times, the Slavs used it instead of paper.

Branches of young trees are covered with red-brown bark. Growths are often visible on the branches and trunk. Leaf blades are distinguished by a triangular-elongated shape (4 * 7 cm) with denticles along the edge. After blooming, they are sticky to the touch and light green in color. As it grows, the shade becomes darker, and with the onset of the first cold weather, the leaves quickly turn yellow.

Flowering begins before the leaves appear on the tree (April-May). Small buds are collected in earrings. There are 2 types of inflorescences:

• male - long, green-brown in color, appear in summer, and open in spring;
• female - short, dark green, appear and bloom in spring.

Pollination occurs with the help of wind. Male inflorescences quickly fall off. In place of female earrings, an ovary is formed, resembling a miniature green cone (pineal thyrsus). The fruits ripen in late July-early August. They are fruit nuts. Inside them are small light seeds with small wings. Gusts of wind carry them far from the tree - this is how reproduction occurs.

Depending on the habitat conditions and the type of plant, birch roots can be located close to the surface or go deep. The root system acts as a powerful pump. It pumps water from underground soils, which allows the tree to grow under adverse conditions.

Kinds

All existing species botanists divided birches into 4 groups:

1. 1. Albae - with light tones of the bark.
2. 2. Costata - with an uneven trunk and rough leaf blades.
3. 3. Acuminatae - grows in the subtropics, has large leaves.
4. 4. Nanae - squat trees with small leaves.

The most common types of birches include:

• fluffy;
• warty;
• stone;
• dwarf;
• Karelian.



Fluffy (pubescent)



The plant owes its name to heavily pubescent annual shoots. The tree is of considerable size:

• height 15–25 m;
• trunk diameter 0.8 m.

The birch has a characteristic silhouette with branches stretched upwards and a wide crown. The color of the bark changes with age: first red-brown, then snow-white. Earrings do not fall off immediately after flowering and hang on branches for a long time. Often found on the trunk tree fungus- chaga.

The growing area covers European part Russia, Siberia, Caucasus. Downy birch prefers areas with excessive moisture. It tolerates frost and poor lighting well.



Hanging (warty)




On the young branches of the tree, small seals are noticeable - “warts”, hence the name of the species. The plant is characterized by a height of 25–30 m and a trunk diameter of 0.75–0.8 m. The bark acquires a white tint gradually (within 10 years). In the root zone of old plants, it becomes black and cracks. The branches of the tree are lowered, hanging, so the second name of the species is hanging.

Birch is the most widely distributed throughout Eurasia and North Africa. It is well adapted to conditions of severe frost, lack of moisture, soil salinity, but requires good lighting. In the forest-tundra zone, the warty birch is called the spruce nanny. This is due to the fact that Christmas trees grow rapidly around it, which eventually crowd out the older tree.

Erman (stone)



The species has the longest life expectancy among the birch family (up to 400 years). The trees are medium tall (12–15 m). Unlike other species, the trunk is curved at the bottom. Its diameter reaches 0.9 m. The bark has a gray or brown color. The crown is wide, with branches directed upwards.

The area of ​​distribution of Erman's birch covers the Far East region (from Yakutia to the Korean Peninsula). The plant is unpretentious, resistant to severe frosts and lack of sunlight.

Dwarf (small, dwarf)




By appearance it is a low growing creeping shrub only 0.2–0.7 m tall. It is also called birch slate. Growth areas belong to the subpolar regions, highlands. The trunk is covered with dark brown bark. "Warts" are noticeable on the branches. Leaf blade of tiny size, beautiful carved shape.

Looking up at this or that tree, we do not think about how much it has already seen in its lifetime. But sometimes the question still pops up in my head about how long it has been standing here. And in general, how many years trees grow or live.

After all, not only a person or an animal was assigned its own "limit" of stay on Earth. Each tree has a certain lifespan.

But you can sort through their varieties and types endlessly, so let's try to answer the question regarding the most common trees: birch, oak and linden. How long do they live?

Birch

Originally Russian beauty, praised in songs, which is mentioned in proverbs and Russian-folk tales. But it grows not only in our vast expanses, you can meet a birch in American and Chinese forests. A slender tree is easily recognizable by its color: white bark is crossed by black stripes.

In early spring, when buds are just beginning to swell on most trees, birch trees are already covered with the first green leaves. In two weeks, a birch forest turns from a gloomy forest into a colorful grove.

How many years does a birch live?

Here it is worth noting the fact that it is difficult to reliably answer this question: it is impossible to keep track of the second, tenth or hundredth tree. In addition, birch has lots of various kinds and subspecies, each of which has a number external features and its lifespan.

Known to many Karelian birch lives relatively short, in comparison with other trees, time: only 30-50 years.

And here is her common "relative", drooping or warty, is able to live up to 120. But along with them there are centenarians, whose age counts the fourth, or even the fifth century.

If we talk about "average" values, then they fluctuate in the region of 100-300 years. But this is not the limit: during all this time, the birch develops diligently, stretching in height and growing long branches. And when growth stops, the movement of nutrients in the trunk begins to gradually slow down - in this state, the tree is able to live for more than one year.

Oak

Now it is not so often to find an oak grove in Russia. But if you happen to visit one, you immediately realize all the mystery and majesty of these trees. Maybe they don't sing songs about them, but they make up legends. Oak is the personification of strength, wisdom and longevity.

It grows predominantly in and territories located in the northern hemisphere. Starting the path as a small and slender tree, over the years the oak acquires its inherent massiveness: the sprawling crown can reach a height of 40 meters, and the circumference of already “completed” trunks is 9 meters, which is also a lot.

The tree is also known for its healing properties: a decoction of oak bark has good anti-inflammatory properties and is used in traditional medicine. And acorns are an excellent component for relieving spasms, swelling and inflammation.

How many years does an oak tree live?

This is a tree ranks among the longest-lived. And it's not easy - oak is able to go through fire and water, reaching up to two thousand years! But it is worth making a reservation: the average life expectancy of one of the "representatives" of the oak forest ranges from 300 to 450 years. And only under favorable conditions these years can stretch for tens of centuries.

The first 100-150 years, the oak is actively developing, blooming only by 20 or even 30 years. But the diameter of its trunk increases throughout its life, acquiring new layers of bark.

There are two particularly old and therefore remarkable trees on the planet:

Linden

We are all familiar with this seemingly unremarkable tree. Botanists and scientists count about 45 species of linden and more than 100 of their hybrid varieties. She gained popularity thanks to inflorescences and linden honey, one of the most delicious and healthy.

An interesting fact: in June 1848, the Czech Republic recognized the linden as its national symbol.

The tree has a spreading crown, stretching up to 30 meters high. The barrel can’t be compared with oak in terms of power, but you can’t call it “slim” either - in diameter it can reach three meters. The leaves are predominantly oval or closer to the shape of a "heart". But the lime color is much more interesting: the yellowish flowers of this tree are fragrant, they are brewed with tea and added to healing fees.

How long does a linden live?

Not everyone will call this tree a great long-liver, but the linden is able to grow and live for quite a long time. Average duration life is 300-400 years, and this is almost half a millennium. However, in good conditions or with artificial planting with proper care, individual varieties of linden can easily survive the milestone of 1 thousand years.

Among its species, there are also wonderful rarities:

Sequoia and baobab are real centenarians, they live for about 5000 years. In turn, cypress and yew live for 3000 years, and the beauty - larch is able to survive more than one generation (400 - 500 years). With careful care, the apple tree is ready to serve you with delicious fruits for 200 years. Rowan lives an average of 80 years, just like a person!

And how old is the oldest tree on the planet?

by the most old tree on earth is considered a pine whose age is already exceeds 4850 years! This pine grows in the White Mountains in the western United States, at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level. The ancient pine is located in California, in National Reserve, however Methuselah's exact whereabouts are kept a closely guarded secret to protect him from the public. None of the employees of the reserve will tell you exactly where it grows, because everyone is afraid of a terrible influx of tourists who want to take a picture with a tree, climb it or tear off a small piece of bark for themselves as a keepsake. But, given the fact that there is simply no older pine, tourists are only happy to walk around the reserve and look for an ancient pine.

Pine Methuselah was discovered in 1953 by botanist Edmund Shulman. In 1958, an article was published about this in National Geographic magazine.

The tree is named Methuselah after one of the biblical characters who lived for 969 years. Now, after the death of Prometheus, this pine is considered the oldest individual (non-cloned) living organism on our planet. Today you can visit the grove where Methuselah is hiding, but you have to guess which tree it is.

Before national park Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest ( Forest of ancient durable pines) is not easily accessible. It lies away from the main tourist roads, is quite high in the mountains and is closed for most of the year due to snow drifts. It is in this reserve that the most ancient trees of our planet grow. Their age is measured in thousands of years, and the oldest named Methuselah is now over 4850 years old. To meet them, to hear their voice, to touch almost eternity - how to refuse such a chance, if it appeared?

The old-timers of the planet - bristlecone pines, or "long-lived" - live in the White Mountains (White Mountains) in eastern California. From Los Angeles, it's three and a half to four hours by car on a good highway. But then the ascent into the mountains begins to a height of more than 3 thousand meters, and on the last section the road turns into a real mountain serpentine, so the park is inaccessible from October to May.

Here, on the slope of Mount White, surrounded by his own kind, Methuselah lives. Surprising silence reigns around, the dazzling sun shines, but in some places, even in the June heat, there are still lenses of snow. Time and adversity have twisted and bizarrely twisted the trunks of many pine trees, and some of them have long lost their bark and look almost dead. But somewhere, one living branch lurks, and this is exactly what the oldest of the locals look like.

These trees endure harsh natural conditions. In the reserve, the average rainfall is less than 30 centimeters per year, most of precipitation falls in the form of snow, so there is very little moisture there. The soil is dominated by dolomite, a type of limestone that contains very few nutrients. In addition, there are sharp temperature changes and blowing strong winds. However, such harsh conditions contribute to longevity the trees that live there. The climate in the reserve is so dry that even viruses and bacteria can hardly survive in it. And the wood [of long-lived pine] is very dense and resinous, which makes it practically inaccessible to insect pests. There is a risk of lightning strikes, but the trees are spaced apart so that the flames do not spread far. The growing season of these trees lasts approximately 45 days. They conserve their limited energy resources by growing very slowly. In circumference, they increase by only 25 millimeters in one century, and their needles (leaves) fall off after about 30 years. The tallest of these trees reaches 18 meters in height. According to experts, the oldest of these pines can live another 5 centuries. !

The conclusion suggests itself that the origins of the endurance of long-lived pines lie precisely in the Spartan living conditions, the need to adapt to the most severe conditions.

There are not very many visitors in the reserve, but anyway, through the fault of people, the Prometheus pine, which was about 300 years older than Methuselah and grew in the neighboring state of Nevada, has already died. True, it was by no means the vandals or tourists who were to blame, but rather the craving for knowledge of some and the slowness of others. While scientists insisted on conducting research and creating a reserve, a certain student named Donald Curry, who was collecting materials for his thesis on the glaciers, quickly obtained a permit from the US Forest Service and cut down one of the trees. Counting the rings showed that he was more than 4.8 thousand years old. . As it turned out later, this was Prometheus, and his exact age was 4862 years.

The story of Prometheus still shudders scientists. But student Curry, later a professor at the University of Utah, did not experience any horror or remorse. He justified himself by saying that he took this step in the name of science. According to him, there were many old trees in those parts, and the likelihood that he would cut down the oldest of them was small. In addition, he did not have data that these trees had been studied before and even had names. Prometheus, like Methuselah, has long been listed in all reference books of the planet's centenarians.

Methuselah is listed in Guinness Book of Records like the oldest living tree.

Trees are the plants with the longest lifespan. Fruit house trees can live over 150 years. You can calculate the age of a tree by the number of rings on the cut of the tree. But this is not always an exact fact. Several rings may appear in a year, or maybe not one.

Coniferous trees live the longest. For example, the age of the Methuselah pine is 4772 years. The circumference of the trunk of this tree is 18 meters.

The oldest Tikko spruce. Its age is more than 9.5 thousand years.

Duration of fruit trees

Fruit trees can bear fruit for a long time, such as apple and pear. The life span of these trees is approximately 100-150 years. Where climatic conditions are milder, they can grow more than this period. The life of a fruit seedling depends on how fruitful the tree is. There are fruit trees with a short lifespan, such as peach. Such a tree grows from 5 to 20 years. It depends on growth and living conditions.

Duration of deciduous trees

Trees grown from seeds are very strong and live much longer. In grafted trees that have grown from cuttings, life expectancy is shortened by 5-10 years. To deciduous trees include birch and oak. birch at normal conditions and favorable climate can live 300 years. As for the oak, it is a long-liver, life expectancy is 1000-1500 years.

Duration of coniferous trees

Coniferous trees live the longest, unlike other trees, as these trees can live under severe conditions. weather conditions. Pine "Methuselah" is the oldest tree, it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, its age is 4772 years.

The lifespan of all trees is affected by many different indicators:

• soil condition;
• weather;
• trees growing nearby;
• insect pests.

Consider the duration of some trees: 5000 years - sequoia; 1200 years - cedar pine; 600 years - juniper; 500 years - maple, chestnut; 400 - 500 years - eucalyptus; 400 years - walnut, olive tree; 300 - 400 years old beech; 250 years - birch; 200 years - apple tree; 150-200 years - saxaul; 100 years - apricot; 80 years - mountain ash; 70 years - breadfruit; 50 years - quince; 25-30 years - sea buckthorn.

Proper care of people for trees can increase their lifespan, but this opinion is not always true. People dream of harvesting crops faster and achieve this by artificial methods. Trees from such an influence lose their strength and become weak, cease to bear fruit and die altogether.