Ancient Bald Cypress Forests Black River, North Carolina David W. Stahle, University of Arkansas

Taxodium distichum Black River Dendrochronology

Tree-Ring Dating = the most accurate and precise dating method in geochronology

Datum in time, crossdating, massive replication, direct calibration & verification, integrating pluviometers (growing season moisture balance) The Principle of Site Selection

Standard ‘dendroclimatic’ theory:

All tree species and forest sites are not equally valuable for dendrochronology, so we practice ‘site selection’ to maximize the environmental signal of interest (e.g., drought, temperature, fire, frost, herbivory, etc.)

Complacent vs. sensitive

Size is not necessarily equal to age

Complacent Rings Sensitive Rings Longevity under adversity

Commercial vs. non-commercial (second growth vs. old growth)

Stokes & Smiley 1968

Frequently flooded bald cypress??

AE Douglass Swedish increment borer Ancient Forest Science

North American Tree-Ring Chronologies Eastern species

Western species

red = University of Arkansas Black River, North Carolina Main Areas of Cypress Logging

Presettlement baldcypress forests = 24-42 million acres,

Today <10,000 acres (<0.04%).

Cypress Swamp National Monument, Louisiana, 1939.

128 Cypress + Locomotive in Georgia From: Mattoon 1915 Oldest living trees on earth, dated with dendrochronology:

1. Great Basin bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva California 5,066* 2. Alerce Fitzroya cupressoides Chile 3,622 3. Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum California 3,266 4. Sierra juniper Juniperus occidentalis California 2,675 5. Rocky Mtn. bristlecone pine Pinus aristata Colorado 2,435 6. Coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens California 2,200 7. Foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana California 2,110 8. Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum New Mexico 1,889 9. Limber pine Pinus flexilis Utah 1,697 10. Bald cypress Taxodium distichum North Carolina 1,653+

Betty Hole Cove Ancient bald cypress Black River, North Carolina From: Peter Brown, OLDLIST Bald Cypress has the Classic Tree-Growth Response to Moisture Stress

Typical of upland trees, true also for wet-site Taxodium (universally!)

- Growing Season -

Rio Lagartero, Guatemala 1.5 Baldcypress growth is directly correlated with rainfall, in spite of flooded 1.0 habitat. Why? 0.5 Dissolved oxygen gradient, Tree Growth Index Tree straFficaFon of root system, 0.0 flux of water & nutrients…. Precipitation Southeast precipitaFon and cypress growth

Four Holes Swamp, SC The site selecFon principle is species dependent! Black River North Carolina

Millennium+ baldcypress trees

10th oldest on earth.

Outstanding Resource Water

Re-colonized by threatened kites and wood storks.

Ring width chronology:

AD 365 – 2010

One of the longest in the world.

Strong precip signal Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium Dated Cypress Trees Black River Black River, North Carolina Black River, North Carolina Black River, North Carolina Squires Tract Black River, North Carolina J. Arndt, 2016 BLK 69 = Oldest documented Taxodium Minimum age = 1,653 years old, likely 1,700+ Black River, North Carolina (1986) Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium

Jordan Burns, 2015 (University of Arkansas) Betty Hole Cove Black River

Certainly one of North Carolina’s most Natural & Scenic Rivers,

with some of the oldest living trees on Earth!