650-Year-Old Tree Succumbs To Drought
A 650-year-old tree named Yoda, which has survived through many of New Mexico’s droughts, wasn’t able to make it through this one.
A 650-year-old tree named Yoda, which has survived through many of New Mexico’s droughts, wasn’t able to make it through this one.
It was a Douglas fir located in the lava flows of El Malpais National Monument west of Albuquerque. For years it had been a favorite of scientists with an interest in the state’s climate.
Yoda’s passing was discovered by one of them.
Grant Harley was on an outing with a group of students from the University of Mississippi in August and when they arrived they found that the tree had died.
According to Harley, the fir was alive in March.
A dating procedure performed on the tree in the early 1990s determined that it had been thriving since the early 1400s.
What Yoda had in longevity, however, it lacked in stature.
Douglas firs can reach impressive heights, their tops towering about the ground at heights up to 150 feet.
Yoda was only 7-feet tall.
Nonetheless, during its lifetime the tree was a source of valuable information, showing times of great rains and punishing dry spells.
As of yet, the drought hasn’t claimed the area’s oldest tree, a Douglas fir that’s been determined to be nearly 1300 years old.
A 650-year-old tree named Yoda, which has survived through many of New Mexico’s droughts, wasn’t able to make it through this one.
It was a Douglas fir located in the lava flows of El Malpais National Monument west of Albuquerque. For years it had been a favorite of scientists with an interest in the state’s climate.
Yoda’s passing was discovered by one of them.
Grant Harley was on an outing with a group of students from the University of Mississippi in August and when they arrived they found that the tree had died.
According to Harley, the fir was alive in March.
A dating procedure performed on the tree in the early 1990s determined that it had been thriving since the early 1400s.
What Yoda had in longevity, however, it lacked in stature.
Douglas firs can reach impressive heights, their tops towering about the ground at heights up to 150 feet.
Yoda was only 7-feet tall.
Nonetheless, during its lifetime the tree was a source of valuable information, showing times of great rains and punishing dry spells.
As of yet, the drought hasn’t claimed the area’s oldest tree, a Douglas fir that’s been determined to be nearly 1300 years old.
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