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Old Tjikko, a small Norway spruce on Fulufjället mountain in Sweden, grows from a root system radiocarbon-dated to about 9,550 years old. That makes it the oldest known Norway spruce and one of the oldest known living trees.

Fulufjället, Sweden, 2008

NatureScience

The story behind the card

The trunk you can see is only a few centuries old; the organism beneath it is far older. Norway spruce can clone itself: a low branch touching the ground takes root and grows into a new stem with the same genes, so when an old trunk dies a new one replaces it. For thousands of years the tree survived as a low, wind-bent shrub and only grew an upright trunk during the warmer twentieth century. Leif Kullman of Umeå University and his wife, Lisa Öberg, found it in 2004 and named it after their late dog. The radiocarbon dating of wood beneath it was announced in 2008.

Türkçe oku
Old Tjikko, İsveç'teki Fulufjället Dağı'nda yetişen küçük bir Norveç ladinidir ve kök sistemi yaklaşık 9.550 yaşındadır. Radyokarbon yöntemiyle belirlenen bu yaş, onu bilinen en yaşlı Norveç ladini ve yaşayan en yaşlı ağaçlardan biri yapıyor.
Fulufjället, İsveç, 2008

Gördüğümüz gövde yalnızca birkaç yüz yaşında; altındaki canlı ise çok daha eski. Norveç ladini kendini kopyalayabilir: Yere değen alçak bir dal kök salar ve aynı genlere sahip yeni bir gövdeye dönüşür. Böylece eski gövde ölünce yerini yenisi alır. Ağaç binlerce yıl boyunca rüzgârla yere yatmış alçak bir çalı gibi yaşadı; dik bir gövdeyi ancak 20. yüzyılda iklim ısınınca çıkardı. Umeå Üniversitesi'nden Leif Kullman ile eşi Lisa Öberg onu 2004'te buldu ve ölen köpeklerinin adını verdi. Altındaki ahşap kalıntılarının radyokarbon yöntemiyle tarihlendirildiği 2008'de açıklandı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Old Tjikko
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